Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 924,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 75,542 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $17,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $756,840,000 after purchasing an additional 5,254,721 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 23,987,750 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $469,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,683 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,776,221 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $387,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,381 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after buying an additional 2,512,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 14,619,124 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $286,389,000 after buying an additional 962,800 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.4%

Energy Transfer stock opened at $17.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.53. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 11.47%. The company had revenue of $21.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a $0.3275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.36%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 99.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ET. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Mizuho upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,185.04. This trade represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.