Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $13.31 Million Position in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 300,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 9,977 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Enbridge were worth $13,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ENB. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Enbridge in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Enbridge by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 25,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Enbridge by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 24,472 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,038,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Certuity LLC acquired a new stake in Enbridge during the 4th quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Enbridge by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 716,472 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,392,000 after acquiring an additional 67,259 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.60% of the company’s stock.

Enbridge Trading Down 0.4%

ENB opened at $46.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.81. Enbridge Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.60 and a 12 month high of $47.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) (TSE:ENB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The pipeline company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, research 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.679 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This is a boost from Enbridge’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.82%. Enbridge’s payout ratio is 139.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.