StockNews.com Downgrades Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PAGP. Barclays raised their price objective on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Plains GP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.60.

Plains GP Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of PAGP stock opened at $20.69 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.10. 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 $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.34 and a beta of 1.58. Plains GP has a fifty-two week low of $16.26 and a fifty-two week high of $22.31.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.35%. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 178.82%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PAGP. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Plains GP by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,363 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Plains GP by 8,120.7% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,384 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.