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

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors 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 Trading of Enbridge

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENB. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Enbridge by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 32,531,675 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,157,802,000 after purchasing an additional 3,693,495 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Enbridge by 4.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,161,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $984,205,000 after purchasing an additional 936,863 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Enbridge by 3.7% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 23,083,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $821,331,000 after buying an additional 827,540 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Enbridge by 3.6% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 18,703,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $665,655,000 after buying an additional 644,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Enbridge by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,163,353 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $737,754,000 after buying an additional 2,061,758 shares during the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enbridge Stock Performance

NYSE:ENB opened at $44.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.93. Enbridge has a 1-year low of $32.85 and a 1-year high of $44.13.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last issued its quarterly 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. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $10.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ENB. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Enbridge in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.00.

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.