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

Enerplus Co. (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$23.67.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ERF. Desjardins lifted their price target 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. ATB Capital dropped their price target on shares of Enerplus from C$27.00 to C$26.50 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. National Bankshares cut their price objective on Enerplus from C$21.00 to C$18.85 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Enerplus from C$24.00 to C$25.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Enerplus from C$27.75 to C$27.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 27th.

Enerplus Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Enerplus stock opened at C$28.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.65. 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 one year low of C$18.23 and a one year high of C$28.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$24.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$22.49.

Enerplus (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported C$0.74 earnings per share 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 during the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Enerplus will post 3.001087 earnings per share for the current year.

Enerplus Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of C$24.13, for a total value of C$2,521,965.58. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.