Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Hold”

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Enbridge Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ENB opened at $40.75 on Monday. Enbridge has a one year low of $31.03 and a one year high of $41.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $86.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.11.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.13. Enbridge had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 13.31%. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. Research analysts predict that Enbridge will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.669 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Enbridge’s dividend payout ratio is currently 134.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enbridge

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,280,486 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,049,268,000 after buying an additional 1,227,031 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 0.9% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 38,087,489 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,377,708,000 after acquiring an additional 337,729 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Enbridge by 3.9% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 36,649,579 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,325,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360,439 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Enbridge by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 32,531,675 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,157,802,000 after purchasing an additional 3,693,495 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Enbridge by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 23,083,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $821,331,000 after purchasing an additional 827,540 shares during the last quarter. 54.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.