Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Purchases 198,000 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 114.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 370,496 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 198,000 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $6,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Plains GP in the third quarter worth about $76,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in Plains GP by 10.0% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 6,990 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $188,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP during the 3rd quarter valued at $200,000. 88.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on PAGP shares. Morgan Stanley cut Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.22.

Plains GP Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PAGP opened at $21.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71 and a beta of 1.58. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 52-week low of $15.78 and a 52-week 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 (NYSE:PAGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.12%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 149.41%.

Plains GP 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.