Aberdeen Group plc Lowers Stake in Enbridge Inc $ENB

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in Enbridge Inc by 5.8%, selling 29,600 shares to hold a total of 478,400 shares valued at approximately $21.68 million after the second quarter.
• Enbridge recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.6839 per share, yielding 5.7%, although the dividend payout ratio stands at a high 134.98%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Enbridge, with CIBC downgrading the stock while others like Jefferies Financial Group upgraded it to a "buy," leading to an average rating of "hold" among research firms.

Aberdeen Group plc cut its position in shares of Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB by 5.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 478,400 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 29,600 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Enbridge were worth $21,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ENB. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the fourth quarter worth about $261,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Enbridge by 0.4% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 75,420 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,337,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. CX Institutional purchased a new stake in Enbridge in the first quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Enbridge by 6.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 438,557 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $19,431,000 after purchasing an additional 25,071 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its holdings in Enbridge by 2.5% in the first quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 14,081 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enbridge Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ENB stock opened at $47.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $104.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. Enbridge Inc has a fifty-two week low of $39.73 and a fifty-two week high of $50.54. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.30.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.06. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.11% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The firm had revenue of $7.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Enbridge Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.6839 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Enbridge's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Enbridge's dividend payout ratio is presently 134.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ENB. CIBC downgraded shares of Enbridge from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Enbridge from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Enbridge from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Enbridge currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.50.

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.

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