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

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL was the target of a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,120,000 shares, a growth of 34.6% from the April 30th total of 3,060,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Performance

Shares of Pembina Pipeline stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $37.58. 876,886 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,282,736. Pembina Pipeline has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $43.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.69 and a 200 day moving average of $37.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 0.76. 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 (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. Pembina Pipeline had a net margin of 25.39% and a return on equity of 13.62%. Pembina Pipeline's revenue for the quarter was up 48.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Pembina Pipeline will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.5109 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.44%. This is an increase from Pembina Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Pembina Pipeline's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PBA shares. Citigroup raised shares of Pembina Pipeline from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PBA. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 673 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Pembina Pipeline in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 2,597.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 917 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 880.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 980 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the period. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Pembina Pipeline in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 55.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.