Wesbanco Bank Inc. Boosts Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 189.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 69,179 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ET. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2,138.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,746 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,472 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ET opened at $21.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $13.79 and a one year high of $21.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.28.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.59 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.38% and a net margin of 5.90%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. Analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.3225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.12%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.