Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Shares Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,347 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ET opened at $16.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $12.90 and a 1-year high of $16.50. The company has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.66.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 4.85%. The company had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.94%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Energy Transfer news, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain acquired 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 591,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,270,188.48. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Energy Transfer news, EVP Gregory G. Mcilwain acquired 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 591,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,270,188.48. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren acquired 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 3,040,000 shares of company stock worth $47,667,200. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Energy Transfer

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.