J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,147 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.1 %

Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.14. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $12.90 and a fifty-two week high of $16.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.79.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $20.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.19% and a return on equity of 12.74%. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.92%. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Energy Transfer news, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Thomas E. Long bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,562,909.12. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $47,040,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,934,686,992. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200. Insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

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.