Investors Buy High Volume of Enbridge Put Options (NYSE:ENB)

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 20,216 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the average volume of 1,779 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the second quarter worth about $28,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in Enbridge by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 689 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 771 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Enbridge by 55.6% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 784 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Enbridge in the third quarter worth $35,000. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ENB has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up from $59.00) on shares of Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Enbridge from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Enbridge from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.00.

Enbridge Price Performance

NYSE:ENB traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.80. 1,320,309 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,814,714. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $42.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.63. Enbridge has a 52 week low of $32.85 and a 52 week high of $44.13. The firm has a market cap of $91.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $10.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.54 billion. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Enbridge will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.41%. Enbridge's dividend payout ratio is currently 124.07%.

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.