CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Trims Position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. $PAGP

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lowered its position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 7.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,460,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 265,000 shares during the period. Plains GP makes up about 4.2% of CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $84,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Star Investment Management Corp. acquired a new position in Plains GP in the first quarter valued at about $56,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Plains GP in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Plains GP by 36.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Advisers LLC now owns 5,859 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Finally, Arax Advisory Partners lifted its stake in Plains GP by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 7,141 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAGP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Plains GP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Plains GP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Plains GP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Plains GP Price Performance

NYSE:PAGP opened at $24.43 on Monday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 52-week low of $16.68 and a 52-week high of $26.15. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.10 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.57.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.4175 dividend. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 172.16%.

Plains GP Profile

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.