Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Enbridge (NYSE:ENB)

Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 20,216 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,036% compared to the average daily volume of 1,779 put options.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ENB. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in Enbridge during the 3rd quarter worth $26,493,000. Blue Fin Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 15,815 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Enbridge by 66.6% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 24,434 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 9,770 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Enbridge by 25.5% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,128 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in Enbridge by 683.7% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,602 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Price Performance

NYSE:ENB opened at $48.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $104.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $48.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.92. Enbridge has a one year low of $39.73 and a one year high of $50.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The pipeline company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $7 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.45 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.11% and a return on equity of 10.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.9425 per share. This represents a $3.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ENB. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Enbridge from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

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.