Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ERF. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.87.

Enerplus Price Performance

Shares of ERF opened at $20.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. Enerplus has a 1 year low of $13.46 and a 1 year high of $20.97.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enerplus

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ERF. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Enerplus in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Enerplus during the first quarter valued at about $73,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised 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 buying an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the fourth quarter worth about $77,000. 58.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.