Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on ERF. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research note 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.87.

Enerplus Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ERF opened at $20.09 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.85. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.97. 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 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enerplus

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ERF. Albert D Mason Inc. lifted its position in Enerplus by 1.4% during the first quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 44,409 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Enerplus by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 29,243 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Enerplus by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 37,152 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Enerplus during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 58.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.