Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP)

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP reduced its stake in Plains GP Holdings, L.P. (NYSE:PAGP - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,172,107 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 699,124 shares during the period. Plains GP accounts for approximately 2.1% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP owned about 2.12% of Plains GP worth $66,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Plains GP by 88.8% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,772,217 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $60,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774,438 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Plains GP by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,958,406 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $79,930,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,884 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in Plains GP by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 2,927,098 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $47,185,000 after purchasing an additional 851,498 shares during the period. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Plains GP by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 6,632,388 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $105,787,000 after purchasing an additional 429,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Plains GP by 226.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 484,054 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 335,553 shares during the period. 88.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Plains GP from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plains GP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Plains GP from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Plains GP from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Plains GP in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Plains GP has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.64.

Plains GP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PAGP traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $18.54. 1,985,058 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,266,848. Plains GP Holdings, L.P. has a 12 month low of $13.09 and a 12 month high of $19.77. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.53.

Plains GP (NYSE:PAGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.88 billion. Plains GP had a net margin of 0.35% and a return on equity of 1.15%. As a group, analysts predict that Plains GP Holdings, L.P. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plains GP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.3175 per share. This represents a $1.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Plains GP's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.