Sapient Capital LLC Takes $265,000 Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 19,219 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,909 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 32,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,195 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 42,927 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ET. UBS Group dropped their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $15.22 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.20. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $12.18 and a 12 month high of $16.04. The company has a market cap of $51.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.64.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.60%.

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.