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

Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 20,216 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the average volume of 1,779 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Enbridge by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,364,993 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,802,766,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067,516 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 40,021,291 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,019,473,000 after purchasing an additional 137,897 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Enbridge in the 4th quarter valued at $1,195,559,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,421,826 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,045,172,000 after buying an additional 1,415,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 19,677,864 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $942,806,000 after buying an additional 858,323 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Stock Performance

NYSE:ENB traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.81. 4,039,819 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,752,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Enbridge has a 52-week low of $39.73 and a 52-week high of $54.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.50.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The pipeline company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $17.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.10 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 11.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Enbridge will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ENB shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Enbridge from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Enbridge from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. National Bank Financial reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Enbridge from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Enbridge Company Profile

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.