Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 34,105 Shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET - Free Report) by 103.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,992 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,105 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $1,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 44.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,379,297 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $535,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,195,768 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,738,594 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $308,319,000 after acquiring an additional 388,073 shares during the last quarter. Brookfield Corp ON raised its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.8% in the third quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 13,139,924 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $210,896,000 after purchasing an additional 352,625 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 36.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,563,478 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $185,594,000 after buying an additional 3,106,631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 45.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 9,581,762 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $153,787,000 after buying an additional 3,013,973 shares during the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of ET stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,743,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,476,158. Energy Transfer LP has a 1-year low of $13.78 and a 1-year high of $21.02. The company has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.36, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm's 50-day moving average is $19.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.23.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Energy Transfer had a net margin of 5.90% and a return on equity of 12.38%. The business had revenue of $20.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.3225 dividend. This represents a $1.29 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Energy Transfer's payout ratio is 94.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.82.

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.