Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Position in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,911,657 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 527,233 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.08% of Energy Transfer worth $52,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chelsea Counsel Co. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 370.3% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Ariston Services Group raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 126.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ariston Services Group now owns 100,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 56,274 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at $930,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 11.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 275,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 29,404 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 223.5% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,069,534 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $19,883,000 after purchasing an additional 738,885 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.4%

ET stock opened at $16.27 on Wednesday. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.60 and a 1-year high of $21.45. 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 capitalization of $55.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.40.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.3325 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.33 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 106.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.95 per share, with a total value of $16,950,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 104,577,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ET shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.92.

Energy Transfer Company 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.