Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 41,485 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 90.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,485 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $921,000. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 33,158 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 257,479 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,184,000 after purchasing an additional 5,359 shares during the last quarter. Pursuit Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $171,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 300,554 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,956,000 after purchasing an additional 5,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ET. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.60.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $19.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.22. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $15.80 and a fifty-two week high of $19.85. The company has a market capitalization of $65.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.62.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $25.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 29.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 110.74%.

Energy Transfer Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.