38,422 Shares in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) Bought by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 38,422 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $706,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the second quarter valued at about $566,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Plains GP by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,276,398 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $24,025,000 after purchasing an additional 80,993 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 77,293 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,455,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,494,000. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Plains GP by 109.6% in the second quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 20,413 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares in the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plains GP Trading Down 0.3 %

PAGP stock opened at $21.43 on Monday. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 52 week low of $15.78 and a 52 week high of $21.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.88. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.09%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 178.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.