Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $18.00 to $19.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.22.

Plains GP Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE PAGP opened at $21.49 on Thursday. Plains GP has a 52 week low of $15.78 and a 52 week high of $21.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.58.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.07%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 149.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Plains GP by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,008 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter worth $13,848,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter worth $9,772,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Plains GP during the second quarter valued at $5,734,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Plains GP in the third quarter valued at $4,013,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

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.