Enbridge Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ENB)

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 20,216 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,036% compared to the typical volume of 1,779 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group cut Enbridge from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.50.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Enbridge stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,534,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,975,251. The firm has a market cap of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Enbridge has a twelve month low of $31.31 and a twelve month high of $42.03.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 10.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.669 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Enbridge's dividend payout ratio is presently 134.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enbridge

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ENB. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Enbridge during the first quarter valued at $152,843,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 12.8% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 32,531,675 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,157,802,000 after purchasing an additional 3,693,495 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 66.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,044,864 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $327,172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,089 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 11.3% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 21,664,748 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $818,370,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 3.9% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 36,649,579 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,325,982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company's stock.

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.