Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 215,945 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 11,872 shares during the quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 61.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 195,461 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,742,000 after acquiring an additional 74,210 shares during the last quarter. Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. White Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 39.1% during the 3rd quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 26,950 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 7,575 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth $344,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,463,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ET. Citigroup lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.86.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $15.30. 17,107,705 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,048,338. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.63. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $12.46 and a twelve month high of $16.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.91 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 4.85%. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.29%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.51%.

Energy Transfer Company 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.