Brokerages Set Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Target Price at $21.87

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

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Enerplus in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Institutional Trading of Enerplus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Enerplus in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its position in Enerplus by 311.9% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 4,667 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Enerplus during the 1st quarter worth $73,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Enerplus during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enerplus Stock Down 0.5 %

ERF stock opened at $20.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.97. Enerplus has a 12 month low of $13.46 and a 12 month high of $20.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.95.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $362.04 million for the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 33.88% and a net margin of 24.09%. Equities research analysts forecast that Enerplus will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.065 per share. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.44%.

About Enerplus

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.