Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 487,000 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lessened its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,017,412 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 487,000 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $69,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 73,666,501 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,033,541,000 after buying an additional 9,341,798 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Energy Transfer by 38.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 valued at $518,460,000 after purchasing an additional 3,514,195 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Energy Transfer in the third quarter worth approximately $42,932,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Energy Transfer by 31.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 12,378,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $173,666,000 after buying an additional 2,933,353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

NYSE:ET traded down $0.23 on Tuesday, reaching $15.75. 7,554,871 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,170,119. The firm has a market cap of $53.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.35. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $12.18 and a 12 month high of $16.07.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.317 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.05%. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target (up previously from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. 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, UBS Group reduced their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.