BNP Paribas Financial Markets Raises Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,768,869 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 420,433 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.34% of Energy Transfer worth $148,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rossmore Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 87.5% during the 4th quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 30,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $414,000 after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 55,986 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 2,907 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company's stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ET traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.94. 15,174,465 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,407,324. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $12.21 and a 1-year high of $16.40. The stock has a market cap of $53.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.44% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.317 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.95%. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is currently 115.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price target (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.14.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer LP provides energy-related services. The company owns and operates natural gas transportation pipeline, and natural gas storage facilities in Texas and Oklahoma; and approximately 20,090 miles of interstate natural gas pipeline. It also sells natural gas to electric utilities, independent power plants, local distribution and other marketing companies, and industrial end-users.