Nice pickup for Pembina

Article Excerpt

PEMBINA PIPELINE, $46.00, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol PPL; Shares outstanding: 549.4 million; Market cap: $25.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.8%; www.pembina.com) has now agreed to increase its stakes in two joint ventures it has with Enbridge Inc. Pembina will acquire an additional 50.0% of the Alliance Pipeline, which pumps natural gas from B.C. and Alberta to Chicago. It will also buy 42.7% of the Aux Sable gas processing plant in Illinois. In all, Pembina will pay $3.1 billion to Enbridge. To help fund the purchase, Pembina is selling 33.8 million shares at $42.85 each for about $1.28 billion. That will increase the total number of shares outstanding by roughly 6%—but cost savings, a simplified ownership structure and increased marketing opportunities should give a big boost to Pembina’s cash flow. Pembina Pipeline is buy. buy…