Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Boosts Holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 82.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 921,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 417,031 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Plains GP worth $16,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,772,217 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774,438 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the first quarter valued at about $697,000. Symmetry Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,002,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in Plains GP by 14.1% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,543,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,162,000 after acquiring an additional 190,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Plains GP by 25.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,712,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $31,259,000 after acquiring an additional 344,303 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Plains GP Price Performance

NYSE PAGP traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $19.91. The company had a trading volume of 355,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,899,060. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 52 week low of $14.71 and a 52 week high of $20.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42 and a beta of 1.54.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.72 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.15% and a net margin of 0.35%. Equities research analysts expect that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.3175 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.38%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PAGP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Plains GP from $17.50 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Plains GP from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.11.

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.