Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Raised to Hold at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on PAGP. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Plains GP presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $20.11.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP opened at $18.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $18.92 and its 200-day moving average is $18.54. Plains GP has a 12-month low of $14.71 and a 12-month high of $20.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.53.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $12.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.09% and a net margin of 0.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Plains GP will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.71%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is 144.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Plains GP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Plains GP by 61.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Plains GP by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Finally, Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Company 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.