WBH Advisory Inc. Purchases Shares of 11,987 Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

WBH Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,987 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 15.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 346,825 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,567,000 after purchasing an additional 45,172 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,297,000. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 7,586,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $148,621,000 after buying an additional 293,088 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 30.9% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 242,042 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,885,000 after buying an additional 57,184 shares during the period. Finally, Paragon Capital Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 435.5% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 68,724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 55,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ET. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.18.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.8 %

ET stock opened at $19.98 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $14.09 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.78. The stock has a market cap of $68.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.69.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.325 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.51%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.85%.

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.