Short Interest in Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Rises By 56.8%

Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL saw a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,460,000 shares, an increase of 56.8% from the May 15th total of 4,120,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Up 1.0%

Pembina Pipeline stock traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.45. 1,496,822 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,288,068. Pembina Pipeline has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $43.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 0.76. The business's 50-day moving average price is $37.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA - Get Free Report) TSE: PPL last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.23. Pembina Pipeline had a net margin of 25.39% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 48.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Pembina Pipeline will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.5109 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This is a boost from Pembina Pipeline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.31%. Pembina Pipeline's payout ratio is 93.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 4,852 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 225,684 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,335,000 after acquiring an additional 16,762 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,175 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tcfg Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Pembina Pipeline in the fourth quarter valued at about $310,000. 55.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PBA shares. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of Pembina Pipeline from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.00.

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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