Plains GP Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PAGP)

Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 165,870 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 6,709% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,436 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Plains GP from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $23.00 target price on Plains GP in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Plains GP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Plains GP from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.14.

Plains GP Stock Performance

PAGP stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $20.82. 2,674,075 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,922,241. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.28 and a beta of 0.56. Plains GP has a 12 month low of $16.60 and a 12 month high of $22.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.4175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 179.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 1.0% in the third quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 10,196,673 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,987,000 after buying an additional 102,916 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Plains GP by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 10,117,959 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $196,592,000 after purchasing an additional 247,365 shares during the last quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Plains GP by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,832,780 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $161,110,000 after purchasing an additional 494,259 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 1.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,386,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,006,000 after purchasing an additional 66,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 3,725,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $71,296,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

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.