Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) Trading Up 4.7% - Time to Buy?

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) rose 4.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.55 and last traded at $18.46. Approximately 970,842 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 3,452,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America began coverage on Plains All American Pipeline in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered Plains All American Pipeline from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains All American Pipeline 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.82.

Plains All American Pipeline Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.64.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.09 billion. Plains All American Pipeline had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Plains All American Pipeline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.12%. This is a positive change from Plains All American Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Plains All American Pipeline's dividend payout ratio is presently 113.39%.

Institutional Trading of Plains All American Pipeline

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Plains All American Pipeline in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 53.2% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,795 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 31.2% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,460 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,094 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.78% of the company's stock.

Plains All American Pipeline Company Profile

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.