Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA)

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 9,116 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 251% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,594 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Plains All American Pipeline in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.82.

Plains All American Pipeline Trading Up 6.2 %

PAA opened at $18.73 on Thursday. Plains All American Pipeline has a 52 week low of $15.02 and a 52 week high of $19.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.66. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.09 billion. Plains All American Pipeline had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 2.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Plains All American Pipeline will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Plains All American Pipeline Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.12%. This is a boost from Plains All American Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains All American Pipeline’s payout ratio is currently 113.39%.

Institutional Trading of Plains All American Pipeline

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Plains All American Pipeline during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Plains All American Pipeline during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 53.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,460 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,094 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.78% of the company’s stock.

About Plains All American Pipeline

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Crude Oil and NGL. The Crude Oil segment offers gathering and transporting crude oil through pipelines, gathering systems, trucks, and on barges or railcars.