Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Shares Bought by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 467.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,611 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after buying an additional 163,632 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Enerplus were worth $3,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Enerplus by 18.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,366,419 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $130,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,478 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Enerplus by 61.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,881,849 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $28,868,000 after acquiring an additional 718,606 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Enerplus by 1.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,697,831 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $29,933,000 after acquiring an additional 25,215 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Enerplus by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,654,774 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $25,384,000 after buying an additional 5,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Enerplus by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,398,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $21,429,000 after buying an additional 74,880 shares during the period. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enerplus Stock Performance

Enerplus stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.20. 3,781,265 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,524,828. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $13.46 and a 12-month high of $20.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.97.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 33.88%. Equities research analysts predict that Enerplus Co. will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.065 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ERF. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Enerplus in a research report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enerplus has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.87.

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.