Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Several other analysts have also commented on PAGP. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Plains GP in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a sector outperform rating and a $23.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $20.11.

Plains GP Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of PAGP traded up $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $18.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,316,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,915,627. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 1.54. Plains GP has a one year low of $14.71 and a one year high of $20.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.06.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $12.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.15% and a net margin of 0.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Plains GP will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.90%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 4,645,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $74,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,120 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its stake in Plains GP by 97.8% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,452,776 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $23,114,000 after purchasing an additional 718,465 shares during the period. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. boosted its position in Plains GP by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 11,666,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $219,572,000 after acquiring an additional 703,158 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,442,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in Plains GP by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 921,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $16,817,000 after purchasing an additional 417,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

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.