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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ENB. Raymond James upgraded Enbridge to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Monday, May 12th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Enbridge in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Enbridge Trading Up 2.0%

Enbridge stock opened at $46.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.95. Enbridge has a 12 month low of $34.60 and a 12 month high of $47.67. The company has a market capitalization of $101.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.81.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.16% and a net margin of 10.04%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.679 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.81%. This is an increase from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Enbridge’s payout ratio is 139.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 1,538.4% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 1,350,115 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $59,824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267,713 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 17.6% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,705 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,899 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 31.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,235,046 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,908,000 after purchasing an additional 297,033 shares during the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 5.2% in the first quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 10,058 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 8.4% in the first quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 84,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 6,543 shares during the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is owned by 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.