KCM Capital Inc Purchases 240,000 Shares of Energy Transfer LP $ET

KCM Capital Inc increased its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 40.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 840,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 240,000 shares during the period. Energy Transfer accounts for approximately 2.6% of KCM Capital Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. KCM Capital Inc’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $16,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AR Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Energy Transfer by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. AR Asset Management Inc. now owns 321,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,213,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Militia Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 1st quarter valued at about $11,580,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 815,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,735,000 after purchasing an additional 172,852 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Energy Transfer by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Capital Advisors LLC now owns 142,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Energy Transfer by 13.2% during the first quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 56,488 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 6,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.22% of the company’s stock.

Energy Transfer Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Energy Transfer stock opened at $20.41 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.54 and a 200-day moving average of $18.94. The stock has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.55. Energy Transfer LP has a 52-week low of $16.18 and a 52-week high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.05). Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 9.77% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business had revenue of $27.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. Energy Transfer’s revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3375 per share. This is a boost from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Energy Transfer’s payout ratio is 112.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Energy Transfer from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Energy Transfer from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Energy Transfer from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Energy Transfer has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

About Energy Transfer

Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) is a Dallas-based midstream energy company that develops and operates infrastructure for the transportation, storage and processing of hydrocarbons. The company’s operations focus on moving and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and refined products through an integrated network of pipelines, terminals, storage facilities and processing plants. Energy Transfer provides core midstream services such as gathering, compression, fractionation, processing, and bulk transportation to support production and downstream supply chains.

Its asset base spans an extensive network across the United States, connecting producing regions, processing centers, petrochemical hubs and coastal and inland markets.