Insider Buying: Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Director Purchases 3,000,000 Shares of Stock

Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 3,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ET traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.58. 19,937,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,506,072. The firm has a market cap of $52.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.52. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $12.46 and a 12 month high of $16.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.22%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 117.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 32,080 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 33,575 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 659 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 31,406 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 674 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 44,383 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,201 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.