Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Enbridge (NYSE:ENB)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $67.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ENB. TD Securities began coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Enbridge to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.00.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of ENB opened at $44.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.84. Enbridge has a one year low of $34.60 and a one year high of $47.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.37.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.20 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 10.16%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.679 per share. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Enbridge’s payout ratio is 139.69%.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ENB. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 584,020 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $23,717,000 after acquiring an additional 44,675 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,142,638 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $655,556,000 after acquiring an additional 176,733 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 19,711 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 12,659 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 52,550 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 3,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomasville National Bank boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 811,601 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,436,000 after acquiring an additional 17,540 shares in the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enbridge Company Profile

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.