Enbridge Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ENB)

Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 20,216 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,036% compared to the typical volume of 1,779 put options.

Enbridge Stock Performance

ENB stock opened at $41.05 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.09. Enbridge has a 1-year low of $31.03 and a 1-year high of $41.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.94.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.13. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.669 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.52%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio is presently 134.01%.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ENB. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Enbridge by 95.8% in the 1st quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 922 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enbridge has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.50.

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.