Advisors Capital Management LLC Acquires 7,217 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 488,636 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,217 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $8,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ET. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the second quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of ET stock opened at $17.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $58.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.76. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $14.60 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.39.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.08%. The company had revenue of $19.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.3325 per share. This represents a $1.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 106.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,350,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. The trade was a 1.99% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ET. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.08.

Energy Transfer 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.