Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases 225,000 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 47.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 700,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225,000 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $13,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ET. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 65.0% during the third quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 43.6% in the third quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Energy Transfer by 44.8% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Energy Transfer in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Energy Transfer currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.82.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,996,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,213,955. The firm has a market cap of $70.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $13.79 and a fifty-two week high of $21.45.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The company had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.325 per share. This represents a $1.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is presently 94.85%.

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.