Hobbs Group Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Energy Transfer LP $ET

Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 49.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,691 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,531 shares during the quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 21.0% in the second quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 30.9% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 218,658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,964,000 after acquiring an additional 51,676 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 3.8% during the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 55,882 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter worth about $1,767,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter worth about $2,692,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ET opened at $16.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.46. The company has a market cap of $55.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.78. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $14.60 and a 12-month high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The business had revenue of $19.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.07 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.08% and a net margin of 5.80%.The business’s revenue was down 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 1,350,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.36 per share, with a total value of $23,436,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 69,178,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,938,360.72. This represents a 1.99% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ET. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank began coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.50.

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.