Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Sells 908,567 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lessened its holdings in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 782,092 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 908,567 shares during the quarter. Plains GP makes up about 0.3% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $14,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAGP. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Plains GP by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,857,000 after buying an additional 93,643 shares during the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 4th quarter valued at $265,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Plains GP by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $151,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,008 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in Plains GP by 79.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 78,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 34,633 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Plains GP during the third quarter worth $4,013,000. Institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP opened at $20.65 on Wednesday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 1 year low of $17.17 and a 1 year high of $22.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.45. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96 and a beta of 1.55.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 286.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PAGP. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Plains GP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

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.