Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.82.

Several research firms have weighed in on PAA. Morgan Stanley cut Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $22.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Plains All American Pipeline Price Performance

PAA stock opened at $18.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.67. Plains All American Pipeline has a one year low of $15.02 and a one year high of $19.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.09 billion. Plains All American Pipeline had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Plains All American Pipeline will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains All American Pipeline 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Plains All American Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains All American Pipeline’s payout ratio is 113.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plains All American Pipeline

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PAA. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Plains All American Pipeline by 30.6% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 230,729 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,008,000 after purchasing an additional 54,111 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 91.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 600,282 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,427,000 after purchasing an additional 286,222 shares during the last quarter. Syntax Research Inc. purchased a new position in Plains All American Pipeline in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,742,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Plains All American Pipeline by 1,006.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 67,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 60,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,221,571 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $125,439,000 after buying an additional 2,677,951 shares during the period. 41.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plains All American Pipeline Company Profile

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in the pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage, and gathering of crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Crude Oil and NGL. The Crude Oil segment offers gathering and transporting crude oil through pipelines, gathering systems, trucks, and on barges or railcars.