HighTower Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,719,258 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 389,042 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $44,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Core Alternative Capital purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ET. Truist Financial started coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.73.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $20.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $68.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.33 and a 200-day moving average of $18.05. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $16.18 and a 52 week high of $20.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 9.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.50%.

Energy Transfer Company 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.