Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Lowered to “Equal Weight” Rating by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $20.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $22.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PAGP. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.88.

Plains GP Price Performance

PAGP traded down $0.09 on Wednesday, reaching $18.06. The company had a trading volume of 941,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,713,837. Plains GP has a 52-week low of $15.70 and a 52-week high of $20.10. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 1.57. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.72.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.03%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 149.41%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 61.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Plains GP during the second quarter valued at about $566,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 88.5% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 85,344 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 40,080 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in shares of Plains GP by 9.4% in the second quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 163,419 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,076,000 after purchasing an additional 14,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Plains GP by 41.1% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 39,656 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 11,557 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

About Plains GP

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.