Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) Shares Sold by Viking Fund Management LLC

Viking Fund Management LLC lessened its stake in Pembina Pipeline Co. (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 90,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Pembina Pipeline were worth $3,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 225,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,335,000 after purchasing an additional 16,762 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 616,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,786,000 after purchasing an additional 150,689 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. raised its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 337,379 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $12,466,000 after purchasing an additional 58,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Pembina Pipeline by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 440,818 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $16,279,000 after purchasing an additional 108,529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.37% of the company’s stock.

Pembina Pipeline Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Pembina Pipeline stock opened at $37.95 on Tuesday. Pembina Pipeline Co. has a 12-month low of $34.13 and a 12-month high of $43.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.95.

Pembina Pipeline (NYSE:PBA) (TSE:PPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.23. Pembina Pipeline had a net margin of 25.39% and a return on equity of 13.62%. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Pembina Pipeline Co. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pembina Pipeline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.5109 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. This is a boost from Pembina Pipeline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Pembina Pipeline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Citigroup raised shares of Pembina Pipeline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.