Plains All American Pipeline Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PAA)

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 15,433 put options on the company. This is an increase of 153% compared to the average volume of 6,089 put options.

Plains All American Pipeline Trading Up 7.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PAA traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.19. 3,889,042 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,120,320. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.47. The stock has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57 and a beta of 1.17. Plains All American Pipeline has a fifty-two week low of $15.58 and a fifty-two week high of $21.00. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 8.84%. Plains All American Pipeline's dividend payout ratio is presently 208.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAA shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains All American Pipeline from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Plains All American Pipeline from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Plains All American Pipeline from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Plains All American Pipeline from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.23.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains All American Pipeline

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline during the third quarter worth $27,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Plains All American Pipeline in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 1,684.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,568 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the 4th quarter worth approximately $97,000. 41.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.