The reports came out reasonably well, which left investors pulling back only slightly and left Enbridge down fractionally in Friday afternoon’s trading. The numbers out of Enbridge weren’t exactly great news, as it posted earnings of C$0.64 for the fourth quarter. That was a disappointment to analysts, who looked for C$0.68 out of the quarter. However, it was a slight gain against the numbers seen back in 2022’s fourth quarter, so that was regarded as at least a mild positive.
Reports noted that the biggest restraining factors for Enbridge this quarter were rising depreciation costs from assets that came online in 2023 and rising interest expenses on outstanding debt. Throw in lower natural gas prices thanks to a comparatively mild winter, and that doesn’t do much good for Enbridge’s numbers. However, Enbridge did manage to up its dividend by 3.1%.
It Gets Worse from There
It might have been forgivable if it had just been a less-than-stellar earnings report, but there’s more going on. For instance, Enbridge is going back to court to try and vacate an order that would shut down the Line 5 pipeline, one of the biggest such pipelines it has. The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is taking Enbridge to task on this one, as the pipeline runs across reservation land. Moreover, Enbridge is planning 650 job cuts starting in March after selling off some of its assets in December.
Is Enbridge a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on ENB stock based on three Buys, five Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 13.18% loss in its share price over the past year, the average ENB price target of $51.55 per share implies 12.54% upside potential.
