Royal Bank of Canada Downgrades Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) to Sector Perform

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) was downgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $22.00 target price on the oil and natural gas company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $21.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.33% from the stock’s current price.

ERF has been the subject of several other reports. National Bankshares reduced their target price on Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Securities reissued a “tender” rating and issued a $18.85 target price (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Enerplus in a report on Monday, April 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, CIBC reduced 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Enerplus currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.69.

Enerplus Trading Down 3.9 %

NYSE:ERF opened at $19.59 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.83. The stock has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.99. Enerplus has a 1 year low of $13.46 and a 1 year high of $20.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last posted its earnings results 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. Enerplus had a return on equity of 40.36% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Enerplus will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enerplus

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 44,409 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 479.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 103,914 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 85,996 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 350,702 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,895,000 after purchasing an additional 68,797 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enerplus during the 1st quarter worth $1,151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.