HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Enbridge Inc $ENB

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Enbridge Inc by 77.9%, selling 390,393 shares, leaving them with 110,553 shares worth approximately $4.9 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., modified their stakes in Enbridge, reflecting a trend among large investors in the company.
• Enbridge announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6839 per share, which marks an increase from the previous quarter, representing a 5.9% dividend yield for shareholders.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Enbridge Inc (NYSE:ENB - Free Report) TSE: ENB by 77.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 110,553 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 390,393 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's holdings in Enbridge were worth $4,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qtron Investments LLC increased its position in Enbridge by 29.9% in the first quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 25,594 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 5,894 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Enbridge by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 1,456,565 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $64,490,000 after buying an additional 38,981 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,558,727 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $113,377,000 after buying an additional 19,973 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP raised its position in shares of Enbridge by 64.6% during the 1st quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 29,802 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 11,700 shares in the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ENB. Argus lifted their price target on Enbridge from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Enbridge from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Enbridge in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Enbridge Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ENB traded up $0.0050 on Friday, hitting $47.9450. 5,030,181 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,850,256. Enbridge Inc has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $48.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $45.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB - Get Free Report) TSE: ENB last announced 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. The company had revenue of $7.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.11% and a return on equity of 10.77%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Enbridge Inc will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.6839 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is presently 134.98%.

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.