Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Stock

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) had its price target increased by Barclays from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the pipeline company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on PAGP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains GP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Plains GP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Plains GP from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $21.43. The stock had a trading volume of 2,601,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,164,263. Plains GP has a 1-year low of $15.78 and a 1-year high of $21.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.08 and its 200-day moving average is $18.89.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Plains GP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Plains GP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAGP. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 2.1% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 5,393,558 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $101,507,000 after purchasing an additional 113,098 shares during the period. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its stake in shares of Plains GP by 1.2% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 53,000 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Plains GP by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,804,713 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $33,965,000 after purchasing an additional 171,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Plains GP by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,313,974 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,309,000 after buying an additional 103,353 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.