First Horizon Advisors Inc. Increases Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,596 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,712 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,033,541,000 after acquiring an additional 9,341,798 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,576,000 after purchasing an additional 7,097,074 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 1,447.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,756,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $518,460,000 after buying an additional 3,514,195 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the third quarter worth about $42,932,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,378,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $173,666,000 after buying an additional 2,933,353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ET opened at $15.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $12.18 and a 1 year high of $16.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.40.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.317 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.98%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 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.