Sapient Capital LLC Acquires New Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,219 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Energy Transfer during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. IMA Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 2,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.57.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

NYSE:ET opened at $15.22 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.20. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $12.18 and a 52-week high of $16.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $51.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.64.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 115.60%.

Energy Transfer 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.