Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Shares Bought by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co increased its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter valued at about $257,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in Energy Transfer by 31.2% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 37,575 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 8,934 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 7.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 77,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 5,174 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 254,305 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after purchasing an additional 6,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.9 %

Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $16.03. 1,391,969 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,073,719. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $12.18 and a 52-week high of $16.07. The firm has a market cap of $54.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.63.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.317 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 115.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ET. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

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.