Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,272,510 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 27,526 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $53,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Enbridge by 3.2% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,585,231 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $267,935,000 after purchasing an additional 207,200 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 32.6% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,302,132 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $52,880,000 after buying an additional 319,907 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc grew its stake in Enbridge by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 188,244 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,650,000 after acquiring an additional 15,207 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its position in Enbridge by 66.5% during the third quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 33,833 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 13,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Enbridge by 4.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,161,024 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $984,205,000 after acquiring an additional 936,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ENB opened at $41.40 on Wednesday. Enbridge Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.85 and a fifty-two week high of $44.13. The company has a market capitalization of $90.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.62.

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

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.47%. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio is presently 124.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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