Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $26.85 and last traded at $26.80, with a volume of 1387811 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PAGP shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Plains GP from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on Plains GP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. US Capital Advisors lowered Plains GP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Plains GP has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.55.

Plains GP Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.57 and a beta of 0.46.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.4175 per share. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.86%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAGP. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in Plains GP by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 10,196,673 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,987,000 after purchasing an additional 102,916 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Plains GP by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,386,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,006,000 after purchasing an additional 66,695 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Plains GP by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,865,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $93,818,000 after purchasing an additional 112,893 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Plains GP by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,407,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $65,225,000 after purchasing an additional 58,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Plains GP by 5.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,854,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $69,291,000 after buying an additional 147,603 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.