Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Short Interest Up 43.5% in February

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,270,000 shares, a growth of 43.5% from the January 31st total of 4,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Pembina Pipeline stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $38.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,788,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,095,502. The company has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.40. Pembina Pipeline has a one year low of $33.83 and a one year high of $43.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Pembina Pipeline Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4783 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PBA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Pembina Pipeline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Securities assumed coverage on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.50.

Institutional Trading of Pembina Pipeline

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,860,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 1,591.4% during the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 3,155,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $116,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,968,994 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Pembina Pipeline during the 4th quarter worth $73,073,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,930,847 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $514,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 71.6% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,163,711 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $130,501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319,709 shares during the last quarter. 55.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Pembina Pipeline

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.