Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 113,098 Shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,393,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 113,098 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 2.73% of Plains GP worth $101,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAGP. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Plains GP by 22.0% in the second quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,624 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Plains GP by 0.4% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 259,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Plains GP by 61.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,028 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Plains GP by 2.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 55,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Plains GP by 0.9% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 176,647 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PAGP shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plains GP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Plains GP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Plains GP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.11.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of PAGP opened at $18.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a one year low of $14.71 and a one year high of $20.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.92 and a 200-day moving average of $18.53. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50 and a beta of 1.53.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $12.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.70 billion. Plains GP had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 1.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.3175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. Plains GP’s payout ratio is 144.32%.

About Plains GP

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.