Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 50,391 Shares of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) by 56.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 139,047 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,391 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Plains All American Pipeline were worth $2,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Clarus Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Clarus Group Inc. now owns 91,527 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 21,400 shares during the period. Wealthstar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline in the fourth quarter worth about $606,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 2,610,872 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $44,594,000 after purchasing an additional 38,062 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 110,735 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 15,049 shares during the period. 41.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plains All American Pipeline Stock Performance

NYSE:PAA opened at $20.62 on Friday. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. has a 1 year low of $16.18 and a 1 year high of $21.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.89 and a 200-day moving average of $17.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 1.65.

Plains All American Pipeline Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.37%. This is a boost from Plains All American Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains All American Pipeline’s payout ratio is 208.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Plains All American Pipeline from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on Plains All American Pipeline from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Plains All American Pipeline currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.21.

About Plains All American Pipeline

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.