Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 14,982 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,383 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,982 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 248.9% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 129,294 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,533,000 after purchasing an additional 92,232 shares in the last quarter. Tepp RIA LLC bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 4,994,274 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $97,838,000 after buying an additional 45,862 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 515,292 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,095,000 after acquiring an additional 39,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $272,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ET opened at $18.72 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.95%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 101.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.09.

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.