Van ECK Associates Corp Has $2.77 Million Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 200,881 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 5,420 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,772,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,651 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,909 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of ET opened at $16.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.43. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $12.18 and a 52-week high of $16.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.63.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.317 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.87%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 115.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ET. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

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.