Enerplus (TSE:ERF) Reaches New 12-Month High at $26.14

Enerplus Co. (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$26.14 and last traded at C$26.02, with a volume of 247215 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$25.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ERF. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$27.75 to C$27.25 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$17.50 to C$19.25 and gave the stock a “tender” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. National Bankshares cut their target price on shares of Enerplus from C$21.00 to C$18.85 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Enerplus from C$24.00 to C$25.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, ATB Capital cut their target price on shares of Enerplus from C$27.00 to C$26.50 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$23.67.

Enerplus Stock Up 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$22.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$22.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.31.

Enerplus (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported C$0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of C$595.12 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Enerplus Co. will post 2.8053393 earnings per share for the current year.

Enerplus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a mar 24 dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Enerplus’s payout ratio is currently 12.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Enerplus

Enerplus Corporation, together with 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.