Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Pembina Pipeline Corp. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL)’s share price passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.02 and traded as high as $48.90. Pembina Pipeline shares last traded at $48.2170, with a volume of 1,183,320 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Pembina Pipeline in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Pembina Pipeline from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pembina Pipeline from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Pembina Pipeline from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pembina Pipeline currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Pembina Pipeline Stock Up 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.60.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.11. Pembina Pipeline had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 22.41%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Pembina Pipeline Corp. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Pembina Pipeline Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be given a C$0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pembina Pipeline

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PBA. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Pembina Pipeline by 102.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,356,398 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $329,243,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721,819 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Pembina Pipeline in the second quarter worth $285,738,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Pembina Pipeline during the 2nd quarter valued at about $264,907,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Pembina Pipeline in the second quarter worth $262,233,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Pembina Pipeline in the second quarter valued at about $199,230,000. 55.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pembina Pipeline

Pembina Pipeline Corporation is a Canadian energy transportation and midstream services company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1954, it began as a pipeline operator serving oil fields in Alberta and has expanded into a range of energy infrastructure businesses.

The company transports crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids through its pipeline networks. Its operations also include natural gas gathering and processing, liquids fractionation, storage and terminalling, along with services that help connect producers with domestic and export markets.

Pembina’s assets and services are concentrated in Western Canada, with additional operations and market connections in the United States.