Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $20.00 price objective on the pipeline company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $22.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PAGP. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.88.

Plains GP Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:PAGP opened at $18.20 on Wednesday. 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 has a 1-year low of $15.78 and a 1-year high of $20.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.72.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.3175 dividend. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is 149.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Plains GP during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $566,000. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its position in shares of Plains GP by 1.2% in the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 4,373,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $80,900,000 after purchasing an additional 53,000 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 79.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 78,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 34,633 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in Plains GP in the third quarter valued at $4,013,000. Finally, Kesler Norman & Wride LLC acquired a new stake in Plains GP in the 3rd quarter valued at $523,000. 88.30% of the stock is currently 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.