First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 978 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Enbridge by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 206,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,782,000 after buying an additional 7,986 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 1,417,584 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $60,152,000 after purchasing an additional 58,176 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,617,146 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,888,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,611,421 shares during the period. Greenland Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 189.1% during the 4th quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 35,410 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 23,160 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Enbridge by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,818,919 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $289,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135,000 shares during the period. 54.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enbridge Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:ENB opened at $45.83 on Wednesday. Enbridge Inc. has a one year low of $34.60 and a one year high of $47.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $99.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.91.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.04. Enbridge had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 10.16%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.679 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.93%. This is a positive change from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Enbridge’s payout ratio is currently 139.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ENB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on shares of Enbridge in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Enbridge from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. CIBC reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Raymond James raised shares of Enbridge to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Enbridge in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.00.

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.