Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Boosts Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 90.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,356 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.9% in the third quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 31,408 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474 shares during the period. Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter valued at $331,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 179,014 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,027,000 after buying an additional 38,792 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 501,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,608,000 after acquiring an additional 13,014 shares during the period. Finally, SCP Investment LP grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 4.2% during the third quarter. SCP Investment LP now owns 69,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (down previously from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.27.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ET opened at $18.96 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.43 and a 200 day moving average of $17.16. The company has a market cap of $65.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.66. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $14.60 and a 52-week high of $19.88.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $25.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 29.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 110.74%.

About Energy Transfer

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.