Wells Fargo & Company Increases Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Price Target to $20.00

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Plains GP from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Plains GP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Plains GP in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a sector outperform rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Plains GP from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $19.64.

Plains GP Price Performance

Shares of PAGP traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,985,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,266,848. Plains GP has a one year low of $13.09 and a one year high of $19.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 1.53.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.88 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.15% and a net margin of 0.35%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Plains GP will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be given a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 144.32%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Plains GP by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 55,354 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 24,937 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 5.3% in the third quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 19,807 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 35.9% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. 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.