Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Shares Sold by Fractal Investments LLC

Fractal Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,486,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 195,518 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer makes up approximately 15.6% of Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $75,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 112.9% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 77,938 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 230.9% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,335,000 after acquiring an additional 513,989 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,250 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 22.5% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,912,000 after buying an additional 77,352 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the third quarter valued at $3,936,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ET shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Energy Transfer stock traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $15.87. 8,459,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,422,026. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $12.18 and a fifty-two week high of $16.04.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.94%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

Energy Transfer Profile

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.