Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Short Interest Up 86.9% in March

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,840,000 shares, an increase of 86.9% from the February 28th total of 12,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 14.7 days. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 4.1% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,935 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,883 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. 55.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PBA. Citigroup raised Pembina Pipeline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Pembina Pipeline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.50.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Up 0.1 %

Pembina Pipeline stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.91. 649,829 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,274,364. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.29. Pembina Pipeline has a 12 month low of $33.83 and a 12 month high of $43.44.

Pembina Pipeline Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4783 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.76%.

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.