Stifel Nicolaus Raises Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Price Target to $22.00

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) had its target price upped by Stifel Nicolaus from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PAGP. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Plains GP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Plains GP from $14.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Plains GP in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a sector outperform rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Plains GP presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $19.55.

Plains GP Stock Up 1.6 %

Plains GP stock opened at $18.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.59. Plains GP has a twelve month low of $12.59 and a twelve month high of $19.77.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.88 billion. Plains GP had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.33%. On average, research analysts predict that Plains GP will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 124.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Plains GP by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,333,168 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $130,898,000 after purchasing an additional 3,318,007 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Plains GP by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,632,388 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $105,787,000 after purchasing an additional 429,179 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Plains GP by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,958,406 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $79,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,884 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in Plains GP by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,871,231 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $78,524,000 after purchasing an additional 539,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Plains GP by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 4,645,531 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $74,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721,120 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.