GWN Securities Inc. Invests $314,000 in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position 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 purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. United Community Bank purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ET stock opened at $18.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.21. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $14.90 and a 1-year high of $21.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $64.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.72.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The pipeline company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.06). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.74% and a return on equity of 11.56%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.325 dividend. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ET shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.55.

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.