Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $20.80 and last traded at $20.57, with a volume of 4021260 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Plains All American Pipeline from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Plains All American Pipeline in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Plains All American Pipeline from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.92.

Plains All American Pipeline Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.74. The firm has a market cap of $14.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.37 and a beta of 1.64.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE:PAA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.06. Plains All American Pipeline had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The company had revenue of $12.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Plains All American Pipeline Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Plains All American Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Plains All American Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio is 113.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plains All American Pipeline

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 53.2% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 3,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 16.3% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,094 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Plains All American Pipeline by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. 41.78% of the stock is currently 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.