Meritage Portfolio Management Sells 2,126 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its holdings in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 402,328 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,126 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management owned about 0.20% of Plains GP worth $6,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Plains GP by 25.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 229,546 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,700,000 after purchasing an additional 45,974 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in Plains GP by 1.3% during the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,039,393 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,875,000 after acquiring an additional 25,504 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Plains GP by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,372,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,128,000 after purchasing an additional 355,600 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 181.8% in the 3rd quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 62,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP in the third quarter valued at approximately $575,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Plains GP in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $23.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Plains GP from $14.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.55.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP traded down $0.17 on Friday, reaching $18.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 731,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,220,657. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 12-month low of $12.59 and a 12-month high of $19.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.70.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). Plains GP had a net margin of 0.41% and a return on equity of 1.33%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.88 billion. Research analysts forecast that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.77%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 124.51%.

Plains GP 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.