Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,800,000 shares, a decrease of 19.3% from the March 31st total of 7,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PBA. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Pembina Pipeline from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com raised Pembina Pipeline from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Pembina Pipeline from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pembina Pipeline during the 4th quarter worth about $133,917,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 340.0% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,640,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $79,412,000 after buying an additional 2,040,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the fourth quarter worth about $32,541,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,652,115 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $435,812,000 after buying an additional 680,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 8.3% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,699,608 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $231,450,000 after buying an additional 593,061 shares during the period. 55.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pembina Pipeline Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PBA traded up $0.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $36.08. 806,300 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,040,206. The company has a market cap of $20.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.82. Pembina Pipeline has a 12-month low of $28.15 and a 12-month high of $36.17.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Pembina Pipeline had a return on equity of 13.11% and a net margin of 19.43%. On average, analysts forecast that Pembina Pipeline will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.4944 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Pembina Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.48%. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.14%.

Pembina Pipeline Company Profile

Pembina Pipeline Corporation provides energy transportation and midstream services. It operates through three segments: Pipelines, Facilities, and Marketing & New Ventures. The Pipelines segment operates conventional, oil sands and heavy oil, and transmission assets with a transportation capacity of 2.9 millions of barrels of oil equivalent per day, the ground storage capacity of 10 millions of barrels, and rail terminalling capacity of approximately 105 thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day serving markets and basins across North America.