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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ENB. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Enbridge in a research note on Friday, October 25th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Enbridge Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ENB opened at $42.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.32. Enbridge has a fifty-two week low of $32.76 and a fifty-two week high of $43.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $10.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.676 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.36%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 36.8% in the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,152 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Enbridge by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 346,999 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $14,092,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Enbridge by 729.8% in the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Enbridge by 734.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,467 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 47,063 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 9.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,932,822 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $200,384,000 after buying an additional 425,706 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

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.