Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

PAGP has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Plains GP from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Bank of America cut shares of Plains GP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Plains GP in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Plains GP currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.22.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Plains GP stock opened at $23.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.35 and a 200-day moving average of $19.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.62 and a beta of 0.56. Plains GP has a 1-year low of $16.60 and a 1-year high of $24.00. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.4175 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is 129.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAGP. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 16,229 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Plains GP by 0.8% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 75,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Plains GP by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,113 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,781 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,192 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Company Profile

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE: PAGP) serves as the general partner of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., one of North America’s leading energy infrastructure companies. Through its ownership of a 2% general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs), Plains GP Holdings participates in the governance and cash distribution structure of a diversified portfolio of crude oil and natural gas liquids gathering, transportation, storage, and terminaling assets.

The company’s primary business activities include overseeing the strategic direction and capital allocation decisions for its affiliated midstream operations.