Hartford Financial Management Inc. Has $490,000 Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. decreased its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,382 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ET. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $244,005,000 after buying an additional 12,353,441 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $756,840,000 after buying an additional 5,254,721 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $79,113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $50,166,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512,060 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total value of $25,299.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,185.04. This represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:ET opened at $17.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.43 and a 200-day moving average of $18.56. The company has a market cap of $61.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $21.45.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.3275 dividend. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.33%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ET. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, March 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.64.

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.