HFG Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

HFG Advisors Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,662 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,967 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer makes up about 1.0% of HFG Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. HFG Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ET. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 12,090.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 12,455,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $244,005,000 after purchasing an additional 12,353,441 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,634,018 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $756,840,000 after buying an additional 5,254,721 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,113,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,166,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,331,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,929,000 after acquiring an additional 2,512,060 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.64.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ET opened at $17.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.57.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $21.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.28 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 5.88%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.3275 per share. This represents a $1.31 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.32%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 99.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Richard Perry sold 1,369 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.48, for a total transaction of $25,299.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,185.04. This represents a 5.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

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.