Baugh & Associates LLC Boosts Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Baugh & Associates LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 39.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 119,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,604 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer makes up about 1.1% of Baugh & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Baugh & Associates LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $244,005,000 after acquiring an additional 12,353,441 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $756,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,254,721 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $50,166,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after buying an additional 2,512,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET stock opened at $17.67 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $14.60 and a 12-month high of $21.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $17.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.51.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 5.88%. The company had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.3275 dividend. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 99.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,185.04. This trade represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ET shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.64.

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.