Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wolfe Research raised Plains GP to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP opened at $17.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 1.54. Plains GP has a one year low of $14.93 and a one year high of $20.10.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced 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 business had revenue of $12.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Plains GP will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.33%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 153.01%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Plains GP by 644.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 154,961 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 134,153 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,669,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Plains GP during the first quarter worth approximately $697,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Plains GP by 25.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,712,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $31,259,000 after buying an additional 344,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in Plains GP by 82.7% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 921,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $16,817,000 after buying an additional 417,031 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.