Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. $PAGP

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 51.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,237 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,048 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $2,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Bancorp Inc ME bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Plains GP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Plains GP in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Plains GP by 36.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Domhnaill Enterprises Inc. bought a new stake in Plains GP during the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAGP shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Plains GP from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research raised Plains GP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Plains GP from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Plains GP from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $18.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Plains GP from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Plains GP has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.18.

Plains GP Trading Down 2.4%

NYSE:PAGP opened at $27.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.23 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Holdings, L.P. has a 12 month low of $16.68 and a 12 month high of $28.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.48.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.4175 per share. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Plains GP’s payout ratio is presently 59.86%.

Plains GP 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.