Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $19.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Plains GP traded as high as $20.95 and last traded at $20.67, with a volume of 1867379 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.64.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PAGP. StockNews.com raised shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research raised Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Plains GP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Plains GP by 17.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,857,000 after buying an additional 93,643 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Plains GP by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 2nd quarter worth $566,000. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Plains GP by 79.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 78,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its holdings in Plains GP by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 4,373,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,900,000 after buying an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plains GP Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.89.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 149.41%.

Plains GP Company Profile

Plains GP Holdings, L.P., through its subsidiary, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., owns and operates midstream infrastructure systems in the United States and Canada. It operates in two segments, Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs). The company engages in the gathering and transporting crude oil and NGLs using pipelines, gathering systems, and trucks.