The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stock Position in Pembina Pipeline Corp. $PBA

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) by 9.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,924,666 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 904,294 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Pembina Pipeline were worth $399,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Pembina Pipeline in the first quarter valued at about $374,000. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the 1st quarter valued at about $312,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline during the 2nd quarter valued at about $253,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 13,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its position in Pembina Pipeline by 17.5% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 23,418 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488 shares in the last quarter. 55.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Pembina Pipeline from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Pembina Pipeline from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Pembina Pipeline from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.00.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Performance

PBA stock opened at $49.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.83. Pembina Pipeline Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.45 and a 1 year high of $51.58.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Pembina Pipeline had a net margin of 22.22% and a return on equity of 11.47%. Pembina Pipeline’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Pembina Pipeline Corp. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.735 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. This is a boost from Pembina Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Pembina Pipeline’s payout ratio is currently 110.94%.

Pembina Pipeline Company Profile

Pembina Pipeline Corporation (NYSE: PBA) is a North American energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates midstream assets that transport, store and process hydrocarbons. Its core business focuses on the transportation of crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and condensate, along with gas processing, fractionation, storage and related marketing services. Pembina serves producers, refiners and other energy companies by providing pipeline capacity, terminal services and midstream solutions that link upstream production to downstream markets and export facilities.

The company’s asset base is concentrated in Western Canada, including major operations in Alberta and British Columbia, and it also has operations and commercial activities that extend into the United States.