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

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 20,216 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,036% compared to the average volume of 1,779 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Enbridge in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the first quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Enbridge during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC lifted its position in Enbridge by 95.8% during the 1st quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Stock Down 0.2 %

ENB opened at $41.05 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.77. Enbridge has a twelve month low of $31.03 and a twelve month high of $41.35. The firm has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.94.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 13.31%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Enbridge will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.01%.

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.