Enbridge Inc $ENB Stake Trimmed by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

Key Points

• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. significantly reduced its holdings in Enbridge Inc by 76.4%, selling over 1.6 million shares during the first quarter.
• Despite State Farm's sell-off, several other institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and Vanguard Group, increased their stakes in Enbridge, indicating continued institutional interest.
• Enbridge announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.6839, reflecting a 5.7% yield, which is part of its strategy to maintain attractive returns for shareholders.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. reduced its position in shares of Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB by 76.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 502,979 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,625,658 shares during the period. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.'s holdings in Enbridge were worth $22,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in Enbridge by 9.7% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 63,297 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,805,000 after buying an additional 5,606 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 302.2% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 31,127 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 23,387 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the first quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the first quarter valued at approximately $72,276,000. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Enbridge by 1.5% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 75,439,320 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,338,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148,580 shares during the period. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of ENB traded up $0.5070 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $47.1770. 3,250,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,003,935. Enbridge Inc has a 1-year low of $38.85 and a 1-year high of $48.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business's 50 day moving average price is $45.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.76.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Enbridge Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.6839 per share. 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 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Enbridge's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 134.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ENB. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Monday, May 12th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Enbridge from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Enbridge from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Enbridge to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" 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.