Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.16 and last traded at $21.95, with a volume of 2456208 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PAGP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Plains GP Stock Up 2.4 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.14 and its 200 day moving average is $18.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.12% and a net margin of 0.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s payout ratio is presently 149.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PAGP. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Plains GP by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 1.2% in the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 4,373,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,900,000 after purchasing an additional 53,000 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Plains GP by 10.5% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,804,713 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $33,965,000 after buying an additional 171,217 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Plains GP by 8.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,313,974 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after buying an additional 103,353 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in Plains GP during the third quarter worth about $13,848,000. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.