Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Stock Price Up 5.2% Following Dividend Announcement

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)’s stock price traded up 5.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $19.80 and last traded at $19.75. 262,299 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 1,155,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.78.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.60%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, 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 note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.11.

Plains GP Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.54 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $18.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAGP. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Plains GP by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 640,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,857,000 after acquiring an additional 93,643 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $151,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Plains GP in the 2nd quarter valued at $566,000. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 78,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 1.2% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

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.