Investors Purchase High Volume of Enbridge Put Options (NYSE:ENB)

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 20,216 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,779 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities began coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Enbridge from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Raymond James upgraded Enbridge to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. CIBC reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Enbridge in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Enbridge has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enbridge

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ENB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Enbridge by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,617,146 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,888,507,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611,421 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 74,290,740 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,151,500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,742 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Enbridge by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,752,759 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,643,935,000 after buying an additional 1,040,799 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Enbridge by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 36,336,212 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,541,745,000 after buying an additional 4,426,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Enbridge in the 4th quarter valued at $909,415,000. 54.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enbridge Stock Down 0.4 %

ENB opened at $46.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $101.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.80. Enbridge has a twelve month low of $34.60 and a twelve month high of $47.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.23. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.16% and a net margin of 10.04%. The business had revenue of $11.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.679 per share. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.84%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio is presently 157.56%.

Enbridge Company Profile

Enbridge Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States.