Morgan Stanley Increases Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Price Target to $23.00

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $19.00 to $23.00 in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the pipeline company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PAGP. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Plains GP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Plains GP from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays increased their price target on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Plains GP presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.00.

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Plains GP Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE PAGP traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, reaching $21.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,416,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,583,537. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Plains GP has a 52 week low of $17.17 and a 52 week high of $22.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59 and a beta of 1.55. The stock's 50 day moving average is $21.30 and its 200-day moving average is $19.67.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Plains GP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.07%. Plains GP's payout ratio is presently 286.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its position in Plains GP by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,513,005 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $229,989,000 after buying an additional 927,855 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 781.8% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 772,966 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $14,207,000 after buying an additional 685,307 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,152,201 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $113,077,000 after acquiring an additional 646,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the third quarter valued at about $9,772,000. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.