TrueWealth Advisors LLC Invests $171,000 in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

TrueWealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Traynor Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at approximately $499,000. Avalon Capital Management increased its position in Energy Transfer by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 77,121 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 215.9% during the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 32,011 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 21,879 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 26.2% during the second quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 31,322 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 6,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Busey Bank boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 15.1% in the second quarter. Busey Bank now owns 14,506 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

ET stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $16.15. The company had a trading volume of 8,542,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,553,185. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $12.90 and a 12-month high of $16.50. The stock has a market cap of $54.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.61.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released 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 net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.49 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.93%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, CEO Thomas E. Long purchased 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,562,909.12. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren bought 3,000,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $313,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,562,909.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

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.