Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Pembina Pipeline experienced a significant increase in trading volume, with 4.36 million shares traded on Friday, a 223% rise from the previous session.
• Analysts' ratings are mixed: Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to a "strong sell," while Raymond James and BMO Capital Markets maintained an "outperform" rating.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.71, demonstrating strong shareholder returns with a yield of 6.7%.

Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL saw strong trading volume on Friday . 4,366,074 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 223% from the previous session's volume of 1,349,768 shares.The stock last traded at $41.82 and had previously closed at $39.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Pembina Pipeline from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Pembina Pipeline from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Pembina Pipeline from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pembina Pipeline presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Pembina Pipeline Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $38.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.90. The company has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.80 and a beta of 0.76.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. This is a boost from Pembina Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Pembina Pipeline's payout ratio is presently 97.18%.

Institutional Trading of Pembina Pipeline

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline in the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,613,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 78.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,088,945 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $283,770,000 after buying an additional 3,108,920 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,547,536 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $283,823,000 after buying an additional 2,427,939 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 136.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,995,460 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $160,681,000 after acquiring an additional 2,307,634 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the first quarter valued at $83,743,000. 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.

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