Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA)

Key Points

• On Monday, traders purchased 11,799 call options for Plains All American Pipeline, marking a significant 158% increase over the average daily volume.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $20.67, alongside recent upgrades from various research institutions.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 8.6%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 172.73%.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 11,799 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately158% compared to the average daily volume of 4,571 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup set a $18.00 price objective on Plains All American Pipeline and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Plains All American Pipeline to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Plains All American Pipeline from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Plains All American Pipeline from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

Plains All American Pipeline Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of PAA stock traded down $0.0240 on Monday, hitting $17.5960. 1,018,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,568,212. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.23 and a 200 day moving average of $18.28. Plains All American Pipeline has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $21.00.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Plains All American Pipeline had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 1.54%.The firm's revenue was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Plains All American Pipeline will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Plains All American Pipeline Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Plains All American Pipeline's dividend payout ratio is currently 172.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 107.0% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,271 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Plains All American Pipeline by 76.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,761 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Plains All American Pipeline during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 41.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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