ENI (NYSE:E) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ENI (NYSE:E) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday, September 25th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of ENI in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ENI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Zacks Research cut ENI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ENI has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.45.

ENI Trading Up 1.4%

E stock traded up $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.55. 194,267 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 458,996. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.18. ENI has a one year low of $36.13 and a one year high of $62.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.63.

ENI (NYSE:E) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, October 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.26. ENI had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $29.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.89 billion. Equities research analysts expect that ENI will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

ENI Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.0310 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 8th. ENI’s payout ratio is currently 28.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in ENI during the 1st quarter valued at about $63,334,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in ENI by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 453,940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $25,698,000 after buying an additional 52,901 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in ENI in the 3rd quarter worth about $15,778,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in ENI by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,171 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $6,756,000 after acquiring an additional 11,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in ENI in the 1st quarter worth about $6,586,000. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ENI

Eni S.p.A. is an Italian integrated energy company headquartered in Rome. Established in 1953 as Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, it has developed from a state energy enterprise into an international business spanning multiple parts of the energy value chain. The company explores for and produces oil and natural gas, and is active in natural gas supply, liquefied natural gas, refining and the marketing of energy products. Its businesses also include chemicals and power generation. Eni operates in Italy and in countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia.