Jennison Associates LLC Increases Holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,654,670 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,208,725 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $64,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 146,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,028,000 after purchasing an additional 77,938 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 230.9% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 736,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,335,000 after acquiring an additional 513,989 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 28,250 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the period. Fractal Investments LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 12.9% during the third quarter. Fractal Investments LLC now owns 5,682,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $79,719,000 after acquiring an additional 647,885 shares during the period. Finally, Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 22.5% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 421,372 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,912,000 after acquiring an additional 77,352 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ET opened at $15.84 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $12.18 and a 12 month high of $16.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.27. The firm has a market cap of $53.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.64.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.315 dividend. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.60%.

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.