Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Decreases Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,688,251 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,374,912 shares during the quarter. Energy Transfer comprises 9.7% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP owned 0.72% of Energy Transfer worth $313,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Energy Transfer by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,909 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 32,203 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 228,569 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,154,000 after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Energy Transfer by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,195 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. 38.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Mizuho reiterated 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 boosted their target price on Energy Transfer from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.14.

Energy Transfer Price Performance

Shares of Energy Transfer stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $16.28. 6,043,713 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,145,077. The stock has a market cap of $54.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.43. Energy Transfer LP has a 12 month low of $12.21 and a 12 month high of $16.40.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.17% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. Energy Transfer’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.317 per share. This is a positive change from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.51%.

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.