Raymond James Upgrades Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) to "Moderate Buy"

Raymond James upgraded shares of Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB to a moderate buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, April 23rd,Zacks.com reports.

ENB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Securities assumed coverage on shares of Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Enbridge from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Enbridge in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Enbridge has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.00.

Enbridge Price Performance

Shares of ENB traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $46.33. 1,223,599 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,213,393. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. Enbridge has a fifty-two week low of $34.60 and a fifty-two week high of $46.85. The company has a market cap of $101.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's fifty day moving average is $43.52 and its 200 day moving average is $43.04.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The pipeline company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.23. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.16% and a net margin of 10.04%. The firm had revenue of $11.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Enbridge will post 2.14 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.679 per share. This is an increase from Enbridge's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.86%. Enbridge's dividend payout ratio is presently 157.56%.

Institutional Trading of Enbridge

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ENB. Norges Bank bought a new position in Enbridge during the 4th quarter valued at $909,415,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 396.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,047,004 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $510,816,000 after purchasing an additional 9,621,425 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. grew its position in Enbridge by 650.7% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 5,718,089 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $242,619,000 after purchasing an additional 4,956,379 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Enbridge by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 36,336,212 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,541,745,000 after buying an additional 4,426,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Enbridge during the 4th quarter worth approximately $180,941,000. 54.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.