Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. Makes New Investment in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. acquired a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 75,353,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,400,831,000 after acquiring an additional 8,613,645 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the first quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 38,205,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $710,240,000 after acquiring an additional 951,656 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its position in Energy Transfer by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 24,170,455 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $449,329,000 after acquiring an additional 182,705 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 12.0% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 23,120,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $429,802,000 after acquiring an additional 2,471,401 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,787,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $312,072,000 after acquiring an additional 455,860 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:ET opened at $16.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.49 and a 200 day moving average of $17.56. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The business had revenue of $19.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

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.