Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Acquires 29,851 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 63.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,088 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,851 shares during the quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

NYSE:ET opened at $19.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.19 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.71 and its 200 day moving average is $17.64. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $13.80 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The firm had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ET. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America started coverage on Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.82.

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.