Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of ENI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com upgraded ENI from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on ENI in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Berenberg Bank lowered ENI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th.

Institutional Trading of ENI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in ENI by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 2,257,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $76,779,000 after acquiring an additional 377,642 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in ENI by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,337,738 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $45,496,000 after purchasing an additional 44,531 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in ENI by 0.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 495,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $15,711,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in ENI by 10.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 443,337 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,151,000 after buying an additional 43,286 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of ENI by 365.8% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 335,353 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $11,405,000 after buying an additional 263,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

ENI Stock Performance

NYSE:E opened at $31.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. ENI has a 1 year low of $28.19 and a 1 year high of $34.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.25 and a 200-day moving average of $31.82.

ENI (NYSE:E) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.18). ENI had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 3.95%. The company had revenue of $25.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.83 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ENI will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a $0.372 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This is an increase from ENI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. ENI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.34%.

About ENI

Eni S.p.A. operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company engages in exploration, development, extracting, manufacturing, and marketing crude oil and natural gas, oil-based fuels, chemical products, and gas-fired power, as well as energy products from renewable sources. It operates through Exploration & Production; Global Gas & LNG Portfolio (GGP); Enilive, Refining and Chemicals; Plenitude & Power; and Corporate and Other Activities segments.