Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Stake in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 15.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,669,064 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 313,339 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $31,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,311,965 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $21,634,000 after acquiring an additional 75,700 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 100.1% during the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 161,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 80,786 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 179.0% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 162,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,129,000 after acquiring an additional 104,000 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the first quarter worth about $61,760,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.8% in the first quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 1,888,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $36,451,000 after purchasing an additional 257,954 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry purchased 12,359 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.23 per share, for a total transaction of $250,022.57. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,770.58. The trade was a 6.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 647,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.26 per share, with a total value of $13,775,799.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 147,901,879 shares in the company, valued at $3,144,393,947.54. This trade represents a 0.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research lowered Energy Transfer from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.08.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET opened at $21.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $16.18 and a one year high of $21.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.55.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 4.87%.The firm had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 92.52%.

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.