Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 1,862.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,678 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 197,093 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $3,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Plains GP in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Plains GP during the 4th quarter valued at $153,000. Leisure Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 4th quarter worth $931,000. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 705.5% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 10,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 178,634 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 7,105 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plains GP Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:PAGP opened at $21.05 on Tuesday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a one year low of $16.22 and a one year high of $22.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last issued 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 return on equity of 1.12% and a net margin of 0.33%. The company had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

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 $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.22%. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 178.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PAGP. StockNews.com downgraded Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.60.

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.