Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Grows Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 167.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,266 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 6,428 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ET opened at $15.94 on Friday. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $12.21 and a fifty-two week high of $16.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $15.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.47. The firm has a market cap of $53.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.91 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.44%. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 115.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.14.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

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.