Plains All American Pipeline Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:PAA)

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 469,013 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 9,210% compared to the typical volume of 5,038 call options.

Plains All American Pipeline Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Plains All American Pipeline stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.69. 4,529,096 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,811,476. Plains All American Pipeline has a twelve month low of $15.57 and a twelve month high of $20.96. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.59.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. Plains All American Pipeline had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 1.54%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Plains All American Pipeline’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Plains All American Pipeline will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains All American Pipeline Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.4175 dividend. This is a boost from Plains All American Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.5%. Plains All American Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 138.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Plains All American Pipeline from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Mizuho set a $23.00 price target on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (down from $24.00) on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Plains All American Pipeline from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.40.

Institutional Trading of Plains All American Pipeline

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Plains All American Pipeline by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 76,066,823 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,297,700,000 after buying an additional 1,663,908 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,280,692 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $567,769,000 after buying an additional 677,959 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,198,958 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $122,814,000 after buying an additional 967,059 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 6,774,650 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $124,112,000 after buying an additional 1,076,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Plains All American Pipeline during the third quarter worth about $87,462,000. 41.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plains All American Pipeline Company Profile

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) is a prominent North American midstream energy company that specializes in the transportation, storage and marketing of crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and refined products. The partnership’s integrated infrastructure network supports the movement of hydrocarbons from major supply basins to domestic and export markets, providing connectivity between production areas, refineries and marine terminals. Plains All American’s services include long-haul and short-haul pipeline systems, inventory services and fee-based storage contracts, helping producers and refiners optimize supply chains and manage market access.

The company operates an extensive onshore pipeline network that spans major U.S.