Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $24.89 and last traded at $24.8550, with a volume of 392758 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Plains GP from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America lowered 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.30.

Plains GP Trading Up 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.92 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.01.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a $0.4175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 172.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Plains GP in the third quarter valued at about $3,088,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Plains GP by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 156,306 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 25,321 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Plains GP by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 835,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,998,000 after purchasing an additional 105,448 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Plains GP by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 800,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,608,000 after purchasing an additional 115,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 314,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after buying an additional 84,042 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.