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

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PBA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.37. 2,107,788 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,829. Pembina Pipeline has a twelve month low of $33.83 and a twelve month high of $43.44. The company has a market cap of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.40.

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 issued a $0.4783 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Pembina Pipeline

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Pembina Pipeline during the 4th quarter worth $171,860,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $116,440,000 after acquiring an additional 2,968,994 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the fourth quarter worth about $73,073,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 10.6% in the fourth 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 grew its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 71.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.37% of the company’s stock.

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.