What: Units of Plains All American Pipeline and its general partner Plains GP Holding both slumped more than 11% by 1:15 p.m. ET on Monday. Fueling today's sell-off was another drop in the price of oil, as well as an analyst downgrade.
So what: The price of crude slumped nearly 3% by the early afternoon pushing it down to around $30 a barrel. That drop weighed on the entire energy sector, with dozens of energy stocks, including Plains All American Pipeline and Plains GP Holding, heading lower.
In addition to that, Plains All American Pipeline was downgraded by Robert W. Baird from outperform all the way to underperform. Furthermore, Baird slashed its price target from $25 all the way down to $16. That's a pretty steep downgrade and reflects the view that weakening oil prices will have a big impact on Plains because low oil prices could lead to lower oil volumes being transported by the company.
That said, it is worth noting that both Plains All America Pipeline and Plains GP Holding will report fourth-quarter results after the market closes today. The uncertainty of what's in that report is another thing that has investors worried today. However, the report will be what actually sheds light on how the worsening downturn has affected its business.
Now what: While there isn't a whole lot of visibility in the oil market right now, investors will get a much clearer picture of Plains' recent performance once it reports earnings. That report, along with management's outlook, could calm investors' fears -- or make them worse. Because of that, investors might want to wait to see what's in that report before reading too deeply into today's downgrade-driven sell-off.
The next billion-dollar iSecret
The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something at its recent event, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here .
The article Here's Why Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. Is Slumping Today originally appeared on Fool.com.
Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days . We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
Copyright © 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
