Wunderlich Maintains Buy on Energy Transfer Partners (ETP)

Wunderlich is out with its report today on Energy Transfer Partners

, maintaining Buy. In a note to clients, Wunderlich writes, "Energy Transfer Partners announced that it has formed a joint venture to purchase LDH Energy Asset Holdings LLC from Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy LLC for approximately $1.925 billion. We are updating our estimates to reflect the deal. The partnership's performance has lagged that of its peers over the last few years and it has not increased its distribution since 2008. The partnership's large, organic capex program should start to pay off and Energy Transfer's stock price could benefit from investors looking for an MLP that has not experienced the same price appreciation as the rest of the group. We have a Buy rating and $60 price target on ETP shares." Shares of ETP closed Wednesday at $51.93, down 2.64% from Tuesday's close.