Venturi Wealth Management LLC Takes $276,000 Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,109 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ET. Barclays increased their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.18.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ET opened at $19.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $14.52 and a 1 year high of $21.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.86 and its 200 day moving average is $17.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.69.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 11.66% and a net margin of 5.74%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.51%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 101.56%.

Energy Transfer 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.