Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) in a research note released on Monday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

ERF has been the subject of a number of other reports. CIBC lowered their price objective on Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. TD Securities restated a tender rating and set a $18.85 price objective (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, National Bankshares lowered their price objective on Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $21.69.

Enerplus Stock Performance

ERF stock opened at $20.15 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Enerplus has a 12-month low of $13.46 and a 12-month high of $20.97.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 40.36% and a net margin of 27.67%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Enerplus will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Enerplus in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Enerplus in the third quarter worth $38,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Enerplus during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Enerplus during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Enerplus by 356.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.42% of the company’s stock.

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.