Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Cuts Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 257,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 55,423 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $4,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ET. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $17.63 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.45. The company has a market cap of $60.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.79. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $14.60 and a 12-month high of $21.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.3275 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.43%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ET. Mizuho upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the sale, the director owned 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.