Raymond James Upgrades Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) to "Moderate Buy"

Raymond James upgraded shares of Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB to a moderate buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Enbridge from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, TD Securities assumed coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Enbridge presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of ENB stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.63. 2,552,881 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,252,636. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.55. Enbridge has a 12-month low of $34.60 and a 12-month high of $46.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.98.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.16% and a net margin of 10.04%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Enbridge will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.679 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from Enbridge's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.82%. Enbridge's payout ratio is 157.56%.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,617,146 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,888,507,000 after buying an additional 3,611,421 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,495,742 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,752,759 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,643,935,000 after buying an additional 1,040,799 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,426,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Enbridge during the fourth quarter worth $909,415,000. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Enbridge

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.