Empirical Finance LLC Sells 367,142 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 26.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,037,614 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 367,142 shares during the period. Energy Transfer accounts for about 0.8% of Empirical Finance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $19,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ET. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 86,310,272 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,423,256,000 after buying an additional 25,366,594 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 83,843,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,382,573,000 after acquiring an additional 6,192,066 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the first quarter valued at about $61,760,000. SCS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 1,859.8% in the second quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,942,908 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,771 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 3.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 57,862,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $992,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Energy Transfer

In other Energy Transfer news, Director James Perry purchased 12,359 shares of Energy Transfer stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.23 per share, with a total value of $250,022.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 208,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,770.58. This trade represents a 6.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelcy Warren acquired 647,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.26 per share, with a total value of $13,775,799.68. Following the acquisition, the director owned 147,901,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,144,393,947.54. The trade was a 0.44% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 1,012,359 shares of company stock worth $21,513,543 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $24.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.17.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 0.0%

Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $21.50. The stock had a trading volume of 6,984,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,893,168. The company has a market cap of $74.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.66. Energy Transfer LP has a 52 week low of $16.18 and a 52 week high of $21.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $34.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.71 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 11.55%. The company’s revenue was up 78.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.3%. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 92.52%.

Energy Transfer Company Profile

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.