B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Energy Transfer LP (NYSE:ET) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 801,612 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 47,324 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Energy Transfer were worth $11,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Energy Transfer during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. ARK & TLK Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $356,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Energy Transfer in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $362,000. 38.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Energy Transfer Stock Performance

ET stock traded up $0.16 on Monday, hitting $15.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,173,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,042,953. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.86. Energy Transfer LP has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $16.40. The stock has a market cap of $51.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $21.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.91 billion. Energy Transfer had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 4.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer LP will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Energy Transfer Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.317 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.28%. This is an increase from Energy Transfer’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Energy Transfer’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ET. Citigroup boosted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Energy Transfer from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price (up from $18.00) on shares of Energy Transfer in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.86.

Energy Transfer Company 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.