Short Interest in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Expands By 6.6%

Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF – Get Rating) (TSE:ERF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,870,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the February 13th total of 3,630,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ERF shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Enerplus in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays started coverage on Enerplus in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Enerplus from C$26.00 to C$25.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.75.

Enerplus Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of ERF stock opened at $13.07 on Friday. Enerplus has a 12 month low of $11.00 and a 12 month high of $19.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.54. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 2.19.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.111 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 3rd. This is an increase from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enerplus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Enerplus by 323.0% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 3,012 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Enerplus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new stake in shares of Enerplus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,765,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Enerplus by 139.4% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 3,010 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Enerplus by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares during the period. 53.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Enerplus Company Profile

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Enerplus Corp. engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It conducts operations in Willston Basin, Marcellus Shale, and Canadian Waterfloods. The firm holds interests in North Dakota, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.