Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Enbridge (NYSE:ENB)

Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 20,216 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the typical volume of 1,779 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Enbridge during the second quarter valued at $1,113,368,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Enbridge by 118.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $480,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157,030 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Enbridge by 38.7% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 13,213,321 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $599,556,000 after buying an additional 3,687,334 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 3.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,404,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,371,580,000 after buying an additional 3,217,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 20.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,785,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $818,620,000 after buying an additional 2,989,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of ENB stock opened at $47.48 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.17. The stock has a market cap of $103.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. Enbridge has a 12 month low of $39.73 and a 12 month high of $50.54.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.06). Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 9.20%.The business had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be given a $0.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. This is an increase from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Enbridge’s payout ratio is presently 147.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ENB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC downgraded Enbridge from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Enbridge from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

About Enbridge

Enbridge Inc is a Calgary, Alberta–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of energy transportation, distribution and generation assets. Its core activities include the operation of crude oil and liquids pipelines, natural gas transmission and distribution systems, and energy storage facilities. In addition to midstream transportation and storage, Enbridge has expanded into renewable power generation and energy transition projects, including wind, solar and utility-scale generation assets.

The company serves customers primarily in Canada and the United States and has interests in other international energy projects.