Investors Buy High Volume of Plains GP Call Options (NYSE:PAGP)

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 10,187 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 685% compared to the average volume of 1,297 call options.

Plains GP Stock Performance

NYSE PAGP traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.51. 2,446,835 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,976,561. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Plains GP has a 1 year low of $15.78 and a 1 year high of $21.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.84.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.07%. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Plains GP in the second quarter worth $566,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Plains GP by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,276,398 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,025,000 after acquiring an additional 80,993 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Plains GP by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 77,293 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,455,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in Plains GP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,494,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Plains GP by 2.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 5,393,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $101,507,000 after purchasing an additional 113,098 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Plains GP presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

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.