Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) in a research note issued on Wednesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD Securities raised their price target on Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.87.

Enerplus Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ERF opened at $20.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.03. Enerplus has a 52 week low of $13.46 and a 52 week high of $20.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.97.

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

Institutional Trading of Enerplus

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ERF. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Enerplus during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Enerplus in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake 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 during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Enerplus during the 1st quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Enerplus during the 4th quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other 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.