Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Plains All American Pipeline Call Options (NASDAQ:PAA)

Plains All American Pipeline Lp (NASDAQ:PAA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 7,200 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 58% compared to the average volume of 4,567 call options.

Plains All American Pipeline Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Plains All American Pipeline stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,847,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,957,673. Plains All American Pipeline has a 1-year low of $16.00 and a 1-year high of $26.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31, a P/E/G ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 0.57.

Plains All American Pipeline (NASDAQ:PAA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.09). Plains All American Pipeline had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $17.69 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. Plains All American Pipeline’s quarterly revenue was up 66.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Plains All American Pipeline will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Plains All American Pipeline Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.4175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. Plains All American Pipeline’s payout ratio is presently 46.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on PAA. Wall Street Zen lowered Plains All American Pipeline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Plains All American Pipeline in a research report on Friday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Plains All American Pipeline from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Plains All American Pipeline from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.87.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains All American Pipeline

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its stake in Plains All American Pipeline by 428.2% in the 1st quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 3,691,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,430,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,549 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Plains All American Pipeline during the 1st quarter worth approximately $16,819,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 774,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,250,000 after purchasing an additional 199,296 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Plains All American Pipeline during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,305,000. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Plains All American Pipeline by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,089,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000,000 after purchasing an additional 130,164 shares in the last quarter. 41.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Plains All American Pipeline

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a midstream energy infrastructure company that provides logistics services for crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Rather than primarily exploring for or producing hydrocarbons, the company operates assets that help gather, transport, store and deliver energy commodities from production areas to refineries, processing facilities and other markets.

The company’s operations include pipeline transportation systems, gathering networks, storage facilities, rail and truck transportation, and terminal and export infrastructure.