Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Stock Price Crosses Above 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.92 and traded as high as $25.87. Plains GP shares last traded at $25.51, with a volume of 1,811,367 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PAGP shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Plains GP currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Plains GP Stock Down 1.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 48.13 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.40.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.4175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 172.16%.

Institutional Trading of Plains GP

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in Plains GP by 1.0% during 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. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Plains GP by 1.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,386,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $80,006,000 after buying an additional 66,695 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Plains GP by 86.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,752,707 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $91,116,000 after buying an additional 1,738,351 shares in the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its stake in Plains GP by 3.9% during 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 buying an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Plains GP by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,407,809 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $65,225,000 after buying an additional 58,003 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Plains GP

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.