Farther Finance Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 3,539 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. United Community Bank bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

ET stock opened at $18.72 on Friday. 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.17. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $14.90 and a 12-month high of $21.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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 increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.55.

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.