Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 288,003 Shares of Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE:PBA)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Pembina Pipeline Corp. by 25.2%, acquiring an additional 288,003 shares, bringing its total ownership to 1,428,833 shares valued at approximately $57.2 million.
• Pembina Pipeline recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5109 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.5%, up from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.
• Analysts have varying opinions on Pembina Pipeline, with three holding ratings, five buy ratings, and one strong buy, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $56.00.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE:PBA - Free Report) TSE: PPL by 25.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,428,833 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 288,003 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.25% of Pembina Pipeline worth $57,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,182 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 337,379 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $12,466,000 after purchasing an additional 58,366 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 445,057 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $17,816,000 after purchasing an additional 67,797 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the first quarter valued at approximately $16,221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bankshares raised Pembina Pipeline from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Pembina Pipeline from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, National Bank Financial raised Pembina Pipeline from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.00.

Pembina Pipeline Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:PBA opened at $37.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Pembina Pipeline Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 year high of $43.44. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $37.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.55.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. Pembina Pipeline had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 23.73%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 48.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Pembina Pipeline Corp. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.5109 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from Pembina Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Pembina Pipeline's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.67%.

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.

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