Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on PAGP. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Plains GP in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Plains GP from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Plains GP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.90.

Plains GP Price Performance

Plains GP stock opened at $22.94 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.17 and a 200-day moving average of $20.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. Plains GP has a 52 week low of $16.68 and a 52 week high of $24.75.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $0.4175 dividend. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is 129.46%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 227.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 2,055,395 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,743 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Plains GP during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,629,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Plains GP by 36.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,750,236 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $31,924,000 after purchasing an additional 466,773 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,446,983 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,393,000 after purchasing an additional 456,426 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 510.6% in the 4th quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 519,600 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,945,000 after purchasing an additional 434,499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

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.