Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 67,021 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 885,959 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,021 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $14,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ET. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.7% during the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $594,769,000 after acquiring an additional 4,141,715 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1,491.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,175,731 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $67,020,000 after acquiring an additional 3,913,266 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,594,000 after acquiring an additional 3,106,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 45.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $153,787,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,973 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ET. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.38.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

ET stock opened at $19.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.53. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $13.54 and a 52-week high of $20.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.70.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.77%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.85%.

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.