Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Downgraded by US Capital Advisors to Moderate Buy

US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from a strong-buy rating to a moderate buy rating in a research note released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on PAGP. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Plains GP from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Plains GP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Plains GP from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Plains GP in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Plains GP Price Performance

NYSE:PAGP opened at $24.35 on Friday. Plains GP has a one year low of $16.68 and a one year high of $26.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.94 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.53.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4175 per share. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 172.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,088,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 156,306 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 25,321 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 835,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $15,998,000 after acquiring an additional 105,448 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 314,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,018,000 after acquiring an additional 84,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 2,666,859 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,644,000 after acquiring an additional 101,512 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Plains GP Company Profile

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE: PAGP) serves as the general partner of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., one of North America’s leading energy infrastructure companies. Through its ownership of a 2% general partner interest and incentive distribution rights (IDRs), Plains GP Holdings participates in the governance and cash distribution structure of a diversified portfolio of crude oil and natural gas liquids gathering, transportation, storage, and terminaling assets.

The company’s primary business activities include overseeing the strategic direction and capital allocation decisions for its affiliated midstream operations.