Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) Shares Bought by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) by 108.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,854 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,687 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in ENI were worth $408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ENI in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,764,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in ENI by 156.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 51,136 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 31,229 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in ENI by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 174,445 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $5,933,000 after acquiring an additional 34,998 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new stake in ENI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,143,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of ENI by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 29,077 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 2,528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

ENI Stock Performance

E traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.98. 175,510 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,822. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.42. Eni S.p.A. has a 12 month low of $28.82 and a 12 month high of $34.30. The stock has a market cap of $53.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

ENI (NYSE:E) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.14). ENI had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.21%. The firm had revenue of $24.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.74 billion. Analysts anticipate that Eni S.p.A. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a $0.372 dividend. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. This is a boost from ENI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. ENI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded ENI from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut ENI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded ENI from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com cut ENI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on ENI in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

ENI Profile

Eni S.p.A. operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company engages in exploration, development, extracting, manufacturing, and marketing crude oil and natural gas, oil-based fuels, chemical products, and gas-fired power, as well as energy products from renewable sources. It operates through Exploration & Production; Global Gas & LNG Portfolio (GGP); Enilive, Refining and Chemicals; Plenitude & Power; and Corporate and Other Activities segments.