Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.55.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Plains GP in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Plains GP from $14.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th.

Plains GP Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE PAGP opened at $18.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $17.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 1.55. Plains GP has a 1-year low of $12.59 and a 1-year high of $19.77.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.88 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.33% and a net margin of 0.41%. Equities analysts forecast that Plains GP will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is 124.51%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,772,217 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $60,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774,438 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,632,388 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $105,787,000 after purchasing an additional 429,179 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 58,783 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 15,591 shares during the period. Cambria Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambria Investment Management L.P. now owns 707,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,406,000 after purchasing an additional 46,844 shares during the period. Finally, ProVise Management Group LLC raised its stake in Plains GP by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 333,584 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,377,000 after buying an additional 38,407 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.