Clearbridge Investments LLC Raises Stock Position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,152,201 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 646,130 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 3.12% of Plains GP worth $113,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Plains GP by 17.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new position in Plains GP during the fourth quarter valued at $265,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in Plains GP by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $151,047,000 after buying an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 78,442 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Plains GP by 144.2% during the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 35,812 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 21,146 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plains GP Trading Down 9.6 %

Shares of NYSE PAGP traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $18.66. 5,364,299 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,576,608. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 12-month low of $17.17 and a 12-month high of $22.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.15%. Plains GP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 286.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PAGP. Wolfe Research upgraded Plains GP from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com lowered Plains GP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains GP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.00.

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.