Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Plains GP from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Plains GP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Plains GP from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Plains GP from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.36.

Plains GP Stock Performance

NYSE:PAGP opened at $26.51 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.68 and its 200 day moving average is $23.20. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02 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. Plains GP has a 52-week low of $16.68 and a 52-week high of $26.54.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.4175 dividend. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Plains GP’s payout ratio is currently 172.16%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PAGP. Diesslin Group Inc. grew its position in Plains GP by 0.8% in the second quarter. Diesslin Group Inc. now owns 82,841 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,011,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 107,504 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,610,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Plains GP by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 12,133 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Plains GP by 86.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,752,707 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $91,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 96,014 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after buying an additional 3,390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Company 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.