HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Energy Transfer LP $ET

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,108,300 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 47,218 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $53,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 54.4% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,270 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 38.9% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ET. Jefferies Financial Group set a $17.00 price target on Energy Transfer and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.36.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of ET opened at $18.77 on Tuesday. Energy Transfer LP has a twelve month low of $14.60 and a twelve month high of $20.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.13.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.335 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.95 per share, for a total transaction of $16,950,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 104,577,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,593,760.85. This trade represents a 0.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.