Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.22.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PAGP. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research raised 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAGP. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter valued at about $57,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Plains GP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Plains GP by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,990 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Stock Down 0.5 %

Plains GP stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.96. 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 twelve month low of $15.78 and a twelve month high of $22.31. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 1.58.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.21). Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.12%. The business had revenue of $12.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Plains GP will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.99%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is 149.41%.

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.