Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,033,541,000 after purchasing an additional 9,341,798 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $353,576,000 after buying an additional 7,097,074 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 25,274,342 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,599,000 after acquiring an additional 953,251 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,222,571 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 31.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,378,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $173,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ET shares. Citigroup increased 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. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.12 on Wednesday. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $12.18 and a twelve month high of $16.20. The stock has a market cap of $54.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.43.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.87%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.60%.

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.