Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) Shares Purchased by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,158,225 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,432 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Enbridge worth $49,441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Enbridge in the fourth quarter worth $909,415,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Enbridge by 396.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,047,004 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $510,816,000 after buying an additional 9,621,425 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Enbridge during the 4th quarter worth about $180,941,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,617,146 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,888,507,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Enbridge by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,217,112 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $571,389,000 after acquiring an additional 3,091,442 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ENB. Raymond James upgraded shares of Enbridge to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup began coverage on Enbridge in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Monday. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of Enbridge stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $44.81. 3,893,826 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,119,647. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.34 and a 200-day moving average of $43.36. Enbridge Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.60 and a 1 year high of $47.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.84.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last released its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.20 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 10.16%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.679 dividend. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Enbridge's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Enbridge's payout ratio is currently 139.69%.

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.