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

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

Pembina Pipeline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PBA traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.37. 2,107,788 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,829. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.25. Pembina Pipeline has a one year low of $33.83 and a one year high of $43.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.74 and its 200-day moving average is $39.40.

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 given a $0.4783 dividend. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pembina Pipeline

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBA. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 13,930,847 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $514,154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331,294 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 122,237 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,515,000 after buying an additional 71,482 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 1,591.4% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 3,155,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $116,440,000 after buying an additional 2,968,994 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Pembina Pipeline by 54.9% in the 4th quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 110,640 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,084,000 after acquiring an additional 39,206 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Pembina Pipeline during the 4th quarter valued at $6,738,000. 55.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports 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 Pembina Pipeline in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Pembina Pipeline in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.50.

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.