Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) Trading 0.8% Higher – Still a Buy?

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) shares shot up 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $42.73 and last traded at $42.67. 601,001 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 4,872,663 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ENB. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Enbridge in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Enbridge Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.32. The firm has a market cap of $92.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.93.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.15. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $10.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is an increase from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.36%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio is 122.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ENB. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,991 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Enbridge by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 274,235 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,922,000 after purchasing an additional 15,650 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Enbridge by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Enbridge during the 1st quarter valued at about $250,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Enbridge by 23.4% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

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.