Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys Shares of 9,129 Pembina Pipeline Corp. $PBA

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC has acquired a new position in Pembina Pipeline Corp., purchasing 9,129 shares valued at approximately $365,000 during the first quarter.
• Pembina Pipeline has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.51 to $0.71, representing an annualized total of $2.84 and a yield of 7.5%.
• Several research firms have adjusted their ratings for Pembina Pipeline, with Jefferies downgrading it to "hold" and National Bank Financial upgrading it to a "strong-buy." The consensus rating is currently "Moderate Buy."

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE:PBA - Free Report) TSE: PPL in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,129 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,296,456 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,011,833,000 after buying an additional 409,379 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,247,662 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $526,451,000 after buying an additional 413,373 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 10.6% during the fourth 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. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 2.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 6,950,836 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $277,985,000 after purchasing an additional 161,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in Pembina Pipeline by 5.2% during the first quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 5,230,781 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $208,856,000 after purchasing an additional 260,804 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.37% of the company's stock.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Performance

PBA stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.76. 135,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,345,557. Pembina Pipeline Corp. has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $43.44. The company has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is an increase from Pembina Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Pembina Pipeline's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PBA has been the topic of several recent research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded Pembina Pipeline from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. National Bankshares upgraded Pembina Pipeline from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Pembina Pipeline from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Pembina Pipeline from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pembina Pipeline currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.