Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Short Interest Up 94.9% in February

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 12,220,000 shares, a growth of 94.9% from the February 13th total of 6,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,570,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.8 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pembina Pipeline

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Pembina Pipeline by 11.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,675 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 55.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Pembina Pipeline Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PBA traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,180,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,104,140. The stock has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.34. 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 current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Pembina Pipeline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.4783 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.