Founders Capital Management Raises Holdings in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Founders Capital Management grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 25.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its position in Energy Transfer by 370.3% in the second quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 94,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 74,050 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its position in Energy Transfer by 4.5% in the second quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 35,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust grew its position in Energy Transfer by 2.4% in the second quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 38,431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 2.6% in the second quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 24,056 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 5.3% in the second quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 39,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ET shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $23.00 target price (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.50.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $17.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.85. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.52 and a 200 day moving average of $17.58.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $19.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 1,350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 69,178,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,200,938,360.72. This represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

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.