Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) Trading Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.22 and last traded at $42.19. Approximately 862,609 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 4,876,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ENB shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Enbridge Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $92.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.12.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Analysts predict that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.676 per share. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 122.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP increased its stake in Enbridge by 55.2% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 4,143,265 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $168,258,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,789 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 28.0% in the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 14,188 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,107 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 3.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,585,231 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $267,935,000 after acquiring an additional 207,200 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 23.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 46,685 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 8,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 1.2% in the third quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 68,979 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,801,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.