Rothschild Investment LLC Invests $163,000 in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,037 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Reserve GP XIII Ltd bought a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $322,097,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 25,423,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $350,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976,676 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Energy Transfer by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,642,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368,427 shares during the last quarter. Natixis lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 18,020,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $283,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999,300 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,867,998 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $53,378,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088,356 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ET. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Mizuho raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One 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.com, Energy Transfer currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Energy Transfer Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ET stock opened at $16.04 on Wednesday. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $16.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.11 and a 200-day moving average of $15.72. The company has a market capitalization of $54.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.66.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 5.19%. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.98%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 117.43%.

Energy Transfer Company 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.