Enbridge Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (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.

Enbridge Trading Up 0.2 %

ENB opened at $35.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Enbridge has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $40.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.26 and its 200 day moving average is $34.88.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.03). Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.62 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.677 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio is currently 129.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Enbridge by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,644,850 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $54,578,000 after buying an additional 815,850 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC increased its stake in Enbridge by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 8,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Enbridge by 81.1% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 229,663 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,272,000 after buying an additional 102,850 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Enbridge by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 8,834 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Enbridge by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,491,857 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,704,715,000 after buying an additional 4,400,848 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ENB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Enbridge in a report on Thursday, January 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.20.

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.