Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 374,000 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,014,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 374,000 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.38% of Energy Transfer worth $214,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Basepoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Navalign LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.2%

ET stock opened at $19.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $19.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.27. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $16.18 and a fifty-two week high of $20.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.78 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ET. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.45.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.