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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ENB. TD Securities initiated coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $59.00) on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Enbridge from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Enbridge from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Enbridge in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.00.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ENB traded up $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.87. The stock had a trading volume of 4,865,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,987,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $97.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.93. Enbridge has a one year low of $32.85 and a one year high of $45.78. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $42.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.76.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. Enbridge had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm had revenue of $10.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Enbridge will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.97%. Enbridge's payout ratio is currently 121.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enbridge

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ENB. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Enbridge during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 74.9% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 689 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in Enbridge by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 771 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Enbridge by 55.6% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 784 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 54.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.