Energy Transfer LP $ET Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,849,140 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 129,983 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer comprises about 1.1% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $54,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 69.5% during the fourth quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ET. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.45.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $20.07 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $16.18 and a twelve month high of $20.70. The stock has a market cap of $69.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The company had revenue of $27.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.3375 dividend. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 112.50%.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.