Highland Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 51,318 Energy Transfer LP $ET

Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 51,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth about $33,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ET has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Cowen began coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE ET opened at $16.83 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The firm had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.36 per share, for a total transaction of $23,436,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 69,178,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This trade represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

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.