Enbridge Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ENB)

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ENB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Enbridge from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities started coverage on shares of Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Enbridge by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,585,231 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $267,935,000 after buying an additional 207,200 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 206,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,782,000 after acquiring an additional 7,986 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 70.7% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,296,374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $52,648,000 after purchasing an additional 536,818 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,302,132 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $52,880,000 after purchasing an additional 319,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Enbridge by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 631,820 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,808,000 after purchasing an additional 49,800 shares in the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Enbridge Price Performance

Shares of ENB stock opened at $41.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Enbridge has a 12 month low of $32.85 and a 12 month high of $45.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.06.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.23. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 10.16%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Enbridge will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

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.