Wesbanco Bank Inc. Buys 4,200 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 109,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. United Community Bank purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET opened at $17.71 on Tuesday. 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 simple moving average of $17.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.61. The stock has a market cap of $60.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $21.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.28 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 5.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.3275 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.31 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ET. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on 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 upped 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. Mizuho upped their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.64.

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.