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

Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 20,216 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,036% compared to the typical volume of 1,779 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ENB. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Enbridge from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Thursday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Enbridge from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Enbridge to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Enbridge currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enbridge

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Enbridge in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,195,559,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in Enbridge by 4,683.0% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 8,566,831 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,975,000 after acquiring an additional 8,387,721 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Enbridge by 118.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $480,518,000 after acquiring an additional 5,157,030 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Enbridge by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 13,213,321 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $599,556,000 after acquiring an additional 3,687,334 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Enbridge by 3.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,404,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,371,580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217,961 shares in the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enbridge Stock Down 1.5%

ENB stock opened at $53.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Enbridge has a fifty-two week low of $39.73 and a fifty-two week high of $54.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.94. The stock has a market cap of $116.20 billion, a PE ratio of 23.16 and a beta of 0.67.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The pipeline company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $17.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.10 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 11.30% and a return on equity of 11.19%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

About Enbridge

Enbridge Inc is a Calgary, Alberta–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates a diversified portfolio of energy transportation, distribution and generation assets. Its core activities include the operation of crude oil and liquids pipelines, natural gas transmission and distribution systems, and energy storage facilities. In addition to midstream transportation and storage, Enbridge has expanded into renewable power generation and energy transition projects, including wind, solar and utility-scale generation assets.

The company serves customers primarily in Canada and the United States and has interests in other international energy projects.