Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wolfe Research currently has $22.00 price objective on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.11.

Plains GP Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE PAGP opened at $20.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Plains GP has a 52 week low of $15.78 and a 52 week high of $20.63.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 178.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 55,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Plains GP by 44.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 40,758 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 12,609 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Plains GP during the second quarter worth about $449,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Plains GP by 130.6% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 28,328 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 16,044 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.