Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,861 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ENB. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Enbridge by 15.5% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 138,305 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,922,000 after buying an additional 18,519 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Enbridge by 2.1% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 103,598 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Enbridge by 45.0% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 11,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,570 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Enbridge by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 21,320 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in Enbridge during the 2nd quarter worth $211,000. Institutional investors own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Enbridge Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ENB opened at $43.09 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $42.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.93. The stock has a market cap of $93.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a PEG 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $10.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. Enbridge had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 9.94%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Enbridge Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Enbridge Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Enbridge’s payout ratio is 124.07%.

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.