Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Position Trimmed by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 25.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 35,626 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 12,426 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Plains GP by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,047,000 after buying an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 53,000 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Plains GP by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,313,974 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 103,353 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in Plains GP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,848,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Plains GP by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 732,335 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $13,548,000 after purchasing an additional 66,690 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wolfe Research raised Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.60.

Plains GP Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PAGP opened at $20.93 on Wednesday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a twelve month low of $16.22 and a twelve month high of $22.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.09. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62 and a beta of 1.58.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.26%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 178.82%.

Plains GP 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.