ENI (NYSE:E) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on E. Weiss Ratings raised ENI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on ENI from $51.00 to $59.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of ENI from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.30 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Grupo Santander raised shares of ENI to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.45.

ENI Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of E stock opened at $58.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.05. ENI has a one year low of $36.13 and a one year high of $62.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.86. The company has a market capitalization of $99.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.44.

ENI (NYSE:E) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, October 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $29.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.89 billion. ENI had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 8.78%. Sell-side analysts expect that ENI will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.6335 per share. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is a positive change from ENI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.6276. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. ENI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.92%.

Institutional Trading of ENI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in ENI by 1.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,011 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ENI by 2.9% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,401 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in ENI by 2.0% in the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 11,071 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of ENI by 4.8% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ENI by 1.2% during the first quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 21,356 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. 1.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ENI

Eni S.p.A. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Rome, Italy. Founded in 1953, the company operates across the energy value chain, with activities spanning exploration and production, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, refining, chemicals, and energy-related services.

Eni explores for and produces oil and natural gas in several regions, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. Through its downstream businesses, the company processes and markets fuels, develops chemical products, and supplies natural gas and electricity.