Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.22.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PAGP. Morgan Stanley downgraded Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Plains GP Stock Down 0.5 %

Plains GP stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 1.58. Plains GP has a 52-week low of $15.78 and a 52-week high of $22.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.96.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.21). Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.12%. The firm had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.15 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Plains GP will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 149.41%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in shares of Plains GP in the third quarter valued at approximately $13,848,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Plains GP in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,772,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,734,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Plains GP during the third quarter worth $4,013,000. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Company Profile

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.