Lincoln National Corp Raises Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,247 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,279 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $2,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,341,798 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $353,576,000 after buying an additional 7,097,074 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 3.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 25,274,342 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,599,000 after acquiring an additional 953,251 shares in the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 15,222,571 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $210,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,933,353 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

Shares of ET stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,115,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,194,641. The stock has a market cap of $54.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 1.63. Energy Transfer LP has a 12-month low of $12.18 and a 12-month high of $16.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.49 and a 200 day moving average of $14.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The company had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.317 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

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.