Scotiabank Begins Coverage on Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP)

Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a sector outperform rating and a $23.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Plains GP from $16.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $18.13.

Plains GP Price Performance

Plains GP stock opened at $19.10 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.47. Plains GP has a one year low of $12.59 and a one year high of $19.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73 and a beta of 1.55.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.88 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.33% and a net margin of 0.41%. As a group, research analysts expect that Plains GP will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.65%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 124.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAGP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Plains GP by 41.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,333,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $130,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,318,007 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Plains GP by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,632,388 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $105,787,000 after buying an additional 429,179 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Plains GP by 43.7% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,958,406 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $79,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,884 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Plains GP by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,871,231 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $78,524,000 after acquiring an additional 539,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Plains GP by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 4,645,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $74,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,120 shares during the last quarter. 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.