Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 68.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 38,471 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Enerplus were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the third quarter worth approximately $179,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.42% of the company’s stock.

Enerplus Price Performance

ERF stock opened at $20.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.99. Enerplus Co. has a twelve month low of $13.46 and a twelve month high of $20.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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 (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The business 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 analysts anticipate that Enerplus Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This is an increase from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ERF shares. CIBC cut their target price on shares of Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Enerplus in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Securities reiterated a “tender” rating and issued a $18.85 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their price target on shares of Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.69.

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.