Citigroup Cuts Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Price Target to $18.00

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PAGP. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

Plains GP Price Performance

Plains GP stock opened at $18.44 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79 and a beta of 0.68. Plains GP has a 1 year low of $16.61 and a 1 year high of $22.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAGP. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Plains GP by 42.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,190,610 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $89,511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258,315 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. grew its holdings in Plains GP by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,513,005 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $229,989,000 after acquiring an additional 927,855 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in Plains GP by 781.8% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 772,966 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $14,207,000 after acquiring an additional 685,307 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Plains GP by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,152,201 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $113,077,000 after acquiring an additional 646,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Plains GP by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,563,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,746,000 after acquiring an additional 526,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

About Plains GP

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.