Westend Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Westend Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 1.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 730,575 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 11,020 shares during the period. Energy Transfer comprises about 4.0% of Westend Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Westend Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $11,726,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at $95,000. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 62,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 4,190 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 16,015 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 4,993 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 45,062 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 14,198 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.52 on Friday. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $12.90 and a fifty-two week high of $16.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $55.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $16.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.92.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.75%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 117.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, CEO Thomas E. Long purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 3,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200 over the last quarter. 3.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

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.