Venturi Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Plains GP by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 8,218,030 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $151,047,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,008 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Plains GP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,848,000. Yaupon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,772,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Plains GP in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,013,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in Plains GP by 114.8% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 370,496 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,810,000 after acquiring an additional 198,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.30% of the company’s stock.

Plains GP Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PAGP opened at $21.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 1-year low of $16.90 and a 1-year high of $22.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.91 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.25.

Plains GP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Plains GP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. Plains GP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 286.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PAGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Plains GP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Plains GP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Plains GP from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded 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 research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Plains GP from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

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.