Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 105,781 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Stokes Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $4,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Enbridge by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,585,231 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $267,935,000 after buying an additional 207,200 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Enbridge by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,296,374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $52,648,000 after acquiring an additional 536,818 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Enbridge by 32.6% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,302,132 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $52,880,000 after acquiring an additional 319,907 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 8.8% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 188,244 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,650,000 after acquiring an additional 15,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 66.5% in the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 33,833 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 13,515 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ENB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Enbridge in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Securities started coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.00.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of ENB opened at $44.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Enbridge Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.85 and a 52-week high of $44.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.57. The company has a market capitalization of $97.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.93.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its 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 net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm had revenue of $10.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Enbridge Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Enbridge’s payout ratio is currently 121.76%.

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.