Lincoln National Corp Increases Stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 208,247 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,279 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 5,174 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 254,305 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after buying an additional 6,771 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.4% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 11,909 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 15.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,524,411 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $259,897,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412,874 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ET stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.12. 11,115,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,194,641. The firm has a market cap of $54.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.42. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $12.18 and a 1 year high of $16.20.

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

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.317 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.60%.

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.