Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Shares of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $19.31 and last traded at $19.12, with a volume of 749332 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on PAA. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Plains All American Pipeline from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank restated a "sector outperform" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a report on Friday. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains All American Pipeline from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Plains All American Pipeline presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.00.

Plains All American Pipeline Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.58 and a 200 day moving average of $17.68. The stock has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.06. Plains All American Pipeline had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $12.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains All American Pipeline Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.05%. This is a positive change from Plains All American Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Plains All American Pipeline's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 135.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains All American Pipeline

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAA. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 5.2% in the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 15,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Plains All American Pipeline by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,094 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 5.1% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 18,146 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 0.9% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 106,845 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,908,000 after buying an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 263,645 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,580,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. 41.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Plains All American Pipeline

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Crude Oil and NGL. The Crude Oil segment offers gathering and transporting crude oil through pipelines, gathering systems, trucks, and on barges or railcars.