National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stock Position in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,461,625 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,272,213 shares during the period. Enbridge accounts for about 1.1% of National Bank of Canada FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.92% of Enbridge worth $706,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Enbridge by 836.4% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 721 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in Enbridge during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Enbridge by 2,294.6% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Enbridge during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ENB. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.20.

Enbridge Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ENB traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.34. 4,208,004 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,166,785. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.91. Enbridge Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.03 and a 1-year high of $40.30. The firm has a market cap of $77.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.83.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.03). Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.23% and a net margin of 13.97%. The company had revenue of $8.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.62 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.677 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This is an increase from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.45%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 129.05%.

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.