Peoples Financial Services CORP. Cuts Position in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. trimmed its holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,593 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 552 shares during the quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $1,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 74.9% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 689 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 56.7% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 771 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 55.6% in the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 784 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge during the third quarter worth $35,000. 54.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enbridge Stock Performance

NYSE ENB opened at $44.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.93. Enbridge Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.85 and a 1-year high of $44.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.42.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $10.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. Enbridge had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 13.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.09%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 124.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ENB. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Enbridge in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Enbridge from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price target (up from $59.00) on shares of Enbridge in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.00.

Enbridge Company 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.