Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Increases Holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,068 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $2,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in Enbridge by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,507 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 811,601 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,436,000 after buying an additional 17,540 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 52,550 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after buying an additional 3,759 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in Enbridge by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 19,711 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 12,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Enbridge by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 83,970 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ENB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $59.00) on shares of Enbridge in a report 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 report on Friday, October 25th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Enbridge from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Enbridge presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Enbridge Stock Performance

NYSE ENB opened at $43.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $94.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.93. Enbridge Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.85 and a 52-week high of $44.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $10.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.18%. Enbridge’s payout ratio is currently 124.07%.

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.