Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA - Free Report) TSE: PPL from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

PBA has been the topic of several other research reports. 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, June 3rd. Finally, National Bankshares raised shares of Pembina Pipeline from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.00.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Up 0.9%

Pembina Pipeline stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $37.54. 1,146,336 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,298,453. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company's 50-day moving average is $37.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.50. The firm has a market cap of $21.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.76. Pembina Pipeline has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $43.44.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.47 billion. Pembina Pipeline had a net margin of 23.73% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 48.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. On average, analysts predict 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 paid a $0.5109 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.44%. This is a positive change from Pembina Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Pembina Pipeline's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pembina Pipeline

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 69.9% in the first 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline by 2,597.1% in the fourth 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. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.37% of the company's stock.

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.