Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) Shares Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB)’s share price shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $42.96 and last traded at $42.90. 4,077,546 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average session volume of 4,862,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ENB. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Enbridge Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $93.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.93.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $10.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.676 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ENB. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Enbridge by 1,514.7% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,799,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $194,938,000 after purchasing an additional 4,502,115 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 4,120.0% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 4,571,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,655,000 after buying an additional 4,463,335 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 12.8% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 32,531,675 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,157,802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,693,495 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 27.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,278,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $498,734,000 after acquiring an additional 2,668,692 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Enbridge by 12.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,163,353 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $737,754,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061,758 shares during the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.