Cullen Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Cullen Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 281,004 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 46,685 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $5,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 21,671 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 7,870 shares during the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.9% in the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 52,166 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 144,200 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 19,669 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,527,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $88,712,000 after purchasing an additional 159,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wexford Capital LP now owns 575,015 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,229,000 after purchasing an additional 80,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Down 9.1 %

Shares of ET opened at $16.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.43. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $14.90 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. On average, equities analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.325 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.07%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ET shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.09.

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.