Saxon Interests Inc. Buys New Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Saxon Interests Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 28,122 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Energy Transfer by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 3,501 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.6% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 424,932 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,755,000 after buying an additional 2,403 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Energy Transfer by 13.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 260,824 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,919,000 after buying an additional 31,407 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 159,249 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 10,856 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 43.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 192,394 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after acquiring an additional 57,880 shares during the period. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.17 on Thursday, reaching $15.71. 12,317,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,608,387. Energy Transfer LP has a one year low of $12.06 and a one year high of $15.81. The company has a market capitalization of $52.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.68 and a 200 day moving average of $14.03.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 7th were paid a $0.315 dividend. This represents a $1.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 6th. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is 115.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ET shares. UBS Group cut their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Energy Transfer presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.57.

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.