Cascade Investment Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,093 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Enbridge by 4.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,161,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $984,205,000 after acquiring an additional 936,863 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 23,083,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $821,331,000 after purchasing an additional 827,540 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 18,703,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $665,655,000 after purchasing an additional 644,526 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Enbridge by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,163,353 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $737,754,000 after buying an additional 2,061,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Enbridge by 1.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,142,638 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $655,556,000 after buying an additional 176,733 shares during the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enbridge Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ENB opened at $44.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.93. Enbridge Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.85 and a 52-week high of $44.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.57.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.15. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $10.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Enbridge Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.02%. Enbridge’s payout ratio is currently 124.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ENB. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Enbridge in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $59.00) on shares of Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, TD Securities initiated coverage on Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enbridge presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Enbridge 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.