Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Acquires 15,000 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 28.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,586 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ET. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 65.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Energy Transfer during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Energy Transfer stock opened at $20.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $71.54 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.23. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $13.78 and a fifty-two week high of $21.02.

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

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3225 per share. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 94.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.