Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $22.16 and last traded at $21.95, with a volume of 2456208 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAGP. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wolfe Research raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Plains GP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.22.

Plains GP Trading Up 2.4 %

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 50-day moving average of $19.14 and a 200-day moving average of $18.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 1.58.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.21). Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.12% and a net margin of 0.33%. The firm had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.92%. 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 is 149.41%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PAGP. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Plains GP in the 4th quarter worth approximately $676,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Plains GP in the fourth quarter worth $308,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 370,496 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,810,000 after acquiring an additional 198,000 shares in the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at $706,000. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Plains GP by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 138,058 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 32,691 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.