Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,165,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 478,496 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.47% of Energy Transfer worth $316,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its position in Energy Transfer by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $469,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares during the last quarter. Hartree Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,083,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 1,572.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 750,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,699,000 after acquiring an additional 705,475 shares during the period. Finally, Mercuria Capital Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at $12,734,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ET shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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 boosted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.09.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ET stock opened at $18.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.46 and a 200-day moving average of $18.37. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.90 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The stock has a market cap of $64.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.95%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

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.