Enerplus Co. (TSE:ERF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Enerplus Co. (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$23.67.

Several research firms recently commented on ERF. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Enerplus from C$24.00 to C$25.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. ATB Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$27.00 to C$26.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$17.50 to C$19.25 and gave the company a “tender” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$21.00 to C$18.85 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$27.75 to C$27.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th.

Enerplus Price Performance

ERF opened at C$28.26 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$23.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$22.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.31, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.80. Enerplus has a 1 year low of C$18.23 and a 1 year high of C$28.38. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.65.

Enerplus (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported C$0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.71 by C$0.03. Enerplus had a net margin of 29.85% and a return on equity of 39.59%. The firm had revenue of C$595.12 million for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enerplus will post 3.001087 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a mar 24 dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Enerplus’s payout ratio is currently 12.32%.

Insider Transactions at Enerplus

In other news, Senior Officer Ian Charles Dundas sold 104,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$24.13, for a total transaction of C$2,521,965.58. Corporate insiders own 0.29% 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.