Analysts Set Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Target Price at $21.69

Shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.87.

ERF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Enerplus in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Enerplus Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ERF opened at $20.12 on Tuesday. Enerplus has a 52-week low of $13.46 and a 52-week 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. The company has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.94.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $437.10 million for the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 40.36% and a net margin of 27.67%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Enerplus will post 1.99 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. This is an increase from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enerplus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Enerplus by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,647 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,616 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 1,314.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 257,590 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,541,000 after buying an additional 239,382 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Enerplus by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 56,389 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Enerplus by 14.8% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 42,969 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 5,533 shares in the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.