Only two of the top publicly traded energy pipeline companies in North America saw institutional ownership increase during the third quarter, with Energy Transfer LP again bearing the brunt of investors' selloff, an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis of SEC filings shows.
Canadian midstream heavyweight Enbridge Inc. saw the biggest gain during the quarter after hedge fund Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired 64.8 million shares. Barometer Capital was also the largest institutional buyer in the pipeline sector for the period.
Williams Cos. Inc.'s institutional ownership also increased slightly with an infusion of 13.5 million units from Bank of America Corp.'s asset management arm, the second-biggest midstream buyer during the third quarter.
Williams announced in August it is eyeing net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, while Enbridge set a target to do the same with an interim goal to slash greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 35% by 2030. Both companies have touted their interests in using existing natural gas infrastructure to transport hydrogen and in renewable natural gas investments.
On the institutional investor side, Morgan Stanley in September became the first major U.S. investment bank to pledge it would achieve a net-zero emission goal in its lending portfolio by 2050, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. None of the other five U.S. "bulge bracket" banks — Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America — has echoed that pledge.
Tortoise Capital Advisors LLC, meanwhile, unloaded a combined 39.3 million shares in Energy Transfer, MPLX LP, Cheniere Energy Inc., Plains All American Pipeline LP and Oneok Inc., making it the pipeline sector's biggest seller in the third quarter. The investment firm, whose oil and gas pipeline-focused closed-end funds have taken a major hit from plummeting energy stocks, launched a renewable energy-focused special purpose acquisition company that merged with electric truck company Hyliion Inc. to form Hyliion Holdings Corp. in October.
Tortoise, The Blackstone Group Inc.'s Harvest Fund Advisors LLC and Morgan Stanley's investment management arm dumped an aggregate 55.8 million shares in Energy Transfer during the third quarter, with the master limited partnership losing over 9% of its institutional ownership. Energy Transfer in October decided to chop its quarterly dividend in half, which credit rating agencies and investment analysts welcomed as a step toward deleveraging.
Harvest Fund Advisors was the second-largest institutional seller among top North American pipeline companies for the quarter, also shedding 7.9 million Enterprise Products Partners LP units.
