Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Several research firms recently weighed in on PAGP. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Plains GP from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho set a $23.00 price target on Plains GP in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Plains GP from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th.

Plains GP Price Performance

PAGP opened at $24.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81 and a beta of 0.56. Plains GP has a 1 year low of $16.60 and a 1 year high of $24.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.76.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.4175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 129.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the third quarter worth about $3,088,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Plains GP by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,832,780 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $161,110,000 after acquiring an additional 494,259 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Plains GP by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 156,306 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 25,321 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Plains GP by 75.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 291,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,661,000 after buying an additional 125,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Plains GP by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 800,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,608,000 after purchasing an additional 115,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

About Plains GP

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE: PAGP) serves as the general partner of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., one of North America’s leading energy infrastructure companies. Through its ownership of a 2% general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs), Plains GP Holdings participates in the governance and cash distribution structure of a diversified portfolio of crude oil and natural gas liquids gathering, transportation, storage, and terminaling assets.

The company’s primary business activities include overseeing the strategic direction and capital allocation decisions for its affiliated midstream operations.