Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ERF. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Enerplus from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $21.87.

Enerplus Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ERF opened at $20.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.97. Enerplus has a 52 week low of $13.46 and a 52 week high of $20.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $362.04 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 33.88%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Enerplus will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enerplus

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ERF. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Enerplus by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,179,057 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $18,087,000 after acquiring an additional 53,287 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the fourth quarter worth $1,550,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Enerplus by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 946,279 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $14,575,000 after purchasing an additional 152,446 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. increased its stake in Enerplus by 9.4% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 30,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Enerplus by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,398,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $21,429,000 after purchasing an additional 74,880 shares during the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is currently 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.