HighTower Advisors LLC Has $7.12 Million Stake in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 387,369 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 9,004 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Plains GP were worth $7,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAGP. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 3rd quarter valued at $13,848,000. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 128.6% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 87,659 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,622,000 after buying an additional 49,320 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Plains GP during the third quarter worth $353,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Plains GP by 8.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,313,974 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,309,000 after buying an additional 103,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 1.2% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 59,998 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plains GP Price Performance

PAGP opened at $21.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.14 and a 200 day moving average of $19.52. 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 Holdings, L.P. has a fifty-two week low of $17.17 and a fifty-two week high of $22.31.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.15%. This is a positive change from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 286.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PAGP. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

Plains GP Company 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.