Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) in a research note published on Wednesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ERF. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. CIBC reduced their price objective on Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a tender rating and issued a $18.85 price objective (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Enerplus from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.69.

Enerplus Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ERF opened at $20.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Enerplus has a 1 year low of $13.46 and a 1 year high of $20.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.91. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.97.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. Enerplus had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 40.36%. The business had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Enerplus will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. This is an increase from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enerplus

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,475,459 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $130,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,040 shares during the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the third quarter valued at about $88,150,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Enerplus by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 4,182,271 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $64,156,000 after acquiring an additional 940,419 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Enerplus by 94.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,255,178 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $34,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Enerplus by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,881,849 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 718,606 shares during the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Enerplus

Enerplus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, explores and develops crude oil and natural gas in the United States. Its oil and natural gas properties are located primarily in North Dakota, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.