Deal sets up Pembina for more gains

Article Excerpt

Pembina Pipeline recently put its natural gas-processing facilities in Western Canada into a new joint venture with private equity firm KKR. It will use cash it received through the deal to pay down debt and buy back shares. That should push up the stock. At the same time, investors should also look forward to higher dividend payments. PEMBINA PIPELINE CORP. $43 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol PPL; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio; Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 555.0 million; Market cap: $23.9 billion; Dividend yield: 6.1%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.pembina.com) operates pipelines that carry half of Alberta’s conventional oil and almost all of B.C.’s oil. The company has paid dividends since 1997. It’s now increasing the monthly payment by 3.6% with the October 2022 payment, to $0.2175 a share from $0.21. The new annual rate of $2.61 yields a high 6.1%. Dividends accounted for 53% of its cash flow in 2021, down from 60% in 2020. Pembina’s revenue rose 18.0%, from $5.41 billion in 2017…