Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 10.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,806 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 19,522 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 85,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,387,000 after purchasing an additional 17,147 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 174,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter worth about $311,000. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 35,058 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ET shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Insider Activity at Energy Transfer

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,308,859 shares in the company, valued at $67,562,909.12. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 3,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares in the company, valued at $1,934,686,992. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 3,040,000 shares of company stock worth $47,667,200 over the last ninety days. 3.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $53.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $12.90 and a 12 month high of $16.50.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted 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 company had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 117.43%.

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.