Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $19.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $22.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.03% from the stock’s previous close.

PAGP has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Plains GP Stock Performance

NYSE:PAGP opened at $17.92 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.63. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Plains GP has a 52 week low of $14.93 and a 52 week high of $20.10.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $12.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Plains GP had a return on equity of 1.09% and a net margin of 0.33%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Plains GP will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains GP

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SL Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Plains GP by 3.3% in the third quarter. SL Advisors LLC now owns 21,282 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 0.9% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 74,783 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 1.9% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Plains GP by 4.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,975 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Plains GP by 22.0% during the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,624 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.