Morling Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Morling Financial Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,620 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,475 shares during the quarter. Morling Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at $166,000. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 439,188 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,061,000 after purchasing an additional 17,816 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Energy Transfer by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 17,436 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Energy Transfer by 47.6% in the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 86,916 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 28,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Energy Transfer by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 16,893 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 3,324 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, hitting $15.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,459,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,422,026. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $12.18 and a 52-week high of $16.04. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.29. The company has a market capitalization of $53.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 1.64.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.46 billion. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 4.85% and a return on equity of 12.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.315 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.60%.

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.