First Western Capital Management Co reduced its stake in Energy Transfer Equity LP (NYSE:ETE) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,321 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,699 shares during the period. First Western Capital Management Co’s holdings in Energy Transfer Equity were worth $458,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer Equity by 1.5% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates now owns 2,919,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,761,000 after buying an additional 44,100 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer Equity by 8.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep now owns 19,369,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,658,000 after buying an additional 1,572,406 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Securities increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer Equity by 63.3% in the fourth quarter. Hollencrest Securities now owns 103,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 40,252 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer Equity by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services now owns 26,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 9,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dividend Asset Capital increased its stake in shares of Energy Transfer Equity by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Dividend Asset Capital now owns 3,185,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,771,000 after buying an additional 62,468 shares during the last quarter.

Energy Transfer Equity LP (NYSE:ETE) opened at 8.85 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion and a PE ratio of 10.28. Energy Transfer Equity LP has a one year low of $6.60 and a one year high of $35.44.

Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE:ETE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm earned $10.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.45 billion. Energy Transfer Equity’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Energy Transfer Equity LP will post $1.17 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 8th will be issued a $0.285 dividend. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.88%.

Several analysts have weighed in on ETE shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on Energy Transfer Equity in a research note on Monday, October 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet downgraded Energy Transfer Equity from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Zacks Investment Research raised Energy Transfer Equity from a “sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 10th. Finally, Jefferies Group started coverage on Energy Transfer Equity in a research note on Friday, December 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Energy Transfer Equity presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $35.38.

In related news, COO Marshall S. Mccrea III sold 485,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.89, for a total value of $9,161,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 2,347,200 shares in the company, valued at $44,338,608. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jamie Welch bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.75 per share, for a total transaction of $787,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 974,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,340,500. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here.

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (NYSE:ETE) is a limited partnership company. The Company, directly and indirectly, owns equity interests in Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (ETP) and Regency Energy Partners LP (Regency), both of which are master limited partnerships engaged in diversified energy-related services. Its segments include Investment in ETP, including the consolidated operations of ETP and Regency; Investment in Lake Charles LNG, including the operations of Lake Charles LNG Company, LLC (Lake Charles LNG), and Corporate and Other, including the activities of ETE. The Company’s Lake Charles LNG provides terminal services for shippers by receiving liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the facility for storage and delivering such liquefied natural gas (LNG) to shippers. It, through ETP, operates various brands, such as Sunoco, Stripes, Aplus, Aloha Island Mart, Exxon, Mobil, Valero, Shell and Chevron. In March 2015, ETE transferred its 45% interest in the Bakken Pipeline project to ETP.

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