Cascade Financial Partners LLC Has $857,000 Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Cascade Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,734 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $17.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.72 and a 200-day moving average of $18.14. The stock has a market cap of $61.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $14.90 and a 52-week high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.29%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.55.

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.