Southland Equity Partners LLC Makes New $250,000 Investment in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Southland Equity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. First Reserve GP XIII Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer during the 4th quarter worth about $322,097,000. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,033,541,000 after purchasing an additional 9,341,798 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 25,621,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,576,000 after purchasing an additional 7,097,074 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 25,423,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $350,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,976,676 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 1,447.6% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,756,955 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $518,460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,195 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ET opened at $15.92 on Tuesday. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $12.46 and a one year high of $16.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $53.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.94.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of $21.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.317 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.97%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 116.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ET. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.29.

Energy Transfer Company 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.