Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $19.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Plains GP traded as high as $20.95 and last traded at $20.67, with a volume of 1867379 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.64.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on PAGP. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Plains GP by 17.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,857,000 after acquiring an additional 93,643 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Plains GP in the second quarter valued at $566,000. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in Plains GP by 79.1% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 78,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT boosted its stake in Plains GP by 1.2% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 4,373,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,900,000 after buying an additional 53,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.89.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.09%. This is a boost from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s payout ratio is presently 149.41%.

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.