Heritage Trust Co Buys New Shares in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 21,040 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. United Community Bank bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ET. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.09.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.4 %

ET stock opened at $16.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.55 and a 200 day moving average of $18.42. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $21.45. The firm has a market cap of $55.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 8.06%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.56%.

Energy Transfer Company 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.