Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Trading of Pembina Pipeline

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PBA. PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Pembina Pipeline during the third quarter worth $1,329,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 225,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,762 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,049,470 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $167,000,000 after buying an additional 624,958 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $846,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 616,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,786,000 after purchasing an additional 150,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.37% of the company’s stock.

Pembina Pipeline Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PBA stock opened at $39.91 on Friday. Pembina Pipeline has a twelve month low of $33.83 and a twelve month high of $43.44. The stock has a market cap of $23.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Pembina Pipeline Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.4783 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.