StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Enerplus (NYSE:ERF)

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ERF. TD Securities boosted their target price on Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Enerplus from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $21.87.

Enerplus Price Performance

Enerplus stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,781,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,524,828. Enerplus has a fifty-two week low of $13.46 and a fifty-two week high of $20.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.97.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 33.88%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Enerplus will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Enerplus Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Enerplus’s payout ratio is 14.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enerplus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Enerplus in the 1st quarter worth about $81,947,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Enerplus during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,700,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,366,419 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $130,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,478 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,255,178 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $34,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Enerplus by 7,592.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,092,996 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $19,270,000 after buying an additional 1,078,787 shares during the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enerplus Company Profile

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.