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

Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 20,216 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,036% compared to the average volume of 1,779 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Enbridge from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Securities downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Enbridge from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Enbridge from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Enbridge by 15.3% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,676,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $83,176,000 after purchasing an additional 221,976 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Enbridge by 15.3% in the third quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 804,261 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,583,000 after purchasing an additional 106,784 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Enbridge by 7.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 339,147 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $17,113,000 after purchasing an additional 24,165 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Enbridge by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,121,715 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $53,652,000 after purchasing an additional 41,601 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Enbridge by 35.2% in the fourth quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 236,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,288,000 after purchasing an additional 61,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ENB opened at $55.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $120.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Enbridge has a 1-year low of $43.59 and a 1-year high of $55.49.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Enbridge had a net margin of 9.83% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The company had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.97 dividend. This represents a $3.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 130.52%.

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.