JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Stock Price

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Plains GP from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Plains GP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Plains GP from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Plains GP from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.88.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of Plains GP stock opened at $19.75 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26 and a beta of 0.63. Plains GP has a 12 month low of $16.61 and a 12 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.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.70%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is presently 205.41%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PAGP. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,193 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 9,646 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 915.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 14,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 13,341 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Csenge Advisory Group grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 22,757 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 113,041 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 9,460 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is currently 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.