AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 13,861 Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 13,861 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $535,738,000 after buying an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,723,683 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 705,475 shares during the period. Mercuria Capital Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,734,000. Finally, Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $10,774,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.9 %

Energy Transfer stock opened at $18.72 on Friday. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $21.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $19.46 and its 200 day moving average is $18.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced 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 return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.09.

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.