Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Sells 7,249 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC cut its stake in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 14.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 41,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,249 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 12.7% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 36,668,846 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $594,769,000 after buying an additional 4,141,715 shares during the period. First Reserve GP XIII Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the fourth quarter valued at $322,097,000. Natixis lifted its position in Energy Transfer by 20.0% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 18,020,559 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $283,463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,999,300 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 16,107,470 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $261,263,000 after buying an additional 171,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its position in Energy Transfer by 2.9% in the second quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 14,883,956 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $241,418,000 after purchasing an additional 425,323 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $16.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.90. Energy Transfer LP has a fifty-two week low of $12.90 and a fifty-two week high of $16.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.66.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.01 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 5.19%. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.92%. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is currently 117.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ET. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Energy Transfer news, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares in the company, valued at $67,562,909.12. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kelcy L. Warren purchased 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.68 per share, for a total transaction of $47,040,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 123,385,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,686,992. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas E. Long acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.68 per share, with a total value of $313,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 4,308,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,562,909.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 3,040,000 shares of company stock valued at $47,667,200 over the last ninety days. 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.