Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.50.

A number of research analysts recently commented on ENB shares. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Monday, May 11th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Enbridge from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th.

Enbridge Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:ENB opened at $56.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Enbridge has a 12 month low of $43.59 and a 12 month high of $58.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $54.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.16. The company has a market cap of $123.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45 and a beta of 0.58.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The pipeline company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Enbridge had a net margin of 9.83% and a return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $9.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Enbridge Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 133.80%.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Enbridge in the fourth quarter worth about $1,195,559,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Enbridge by 4,683.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 8,566,831 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,975,000 after purchasing an additional 8,387,721 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Enbridge by 118.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,526,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $480,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157,030 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Enbridge by 787.8% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 3,196,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $173,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,836,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Enbridge in the fourth quarter worth about $132,705,000. Institutional investors own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

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.