Toronto Dominion Bank Buys 1,091 Shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 321,492 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.15% of Enerplus worth $4,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ERF. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Enerplus by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 30,620 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 18,625 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Enerplus by 656.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 135,638 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 117,700 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Enerplus by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 116,659 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 13,430 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Enerplus during the 1st quarter worth $158,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Enerplus during the 1st quarter worth $138,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Enerplus from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Enerplus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Enerplus from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.50.

Enerplus Price Performance

Shares of ERF stock opened at $17.39 on Friday. Enerplus Co. has a 12-month low of $12.39 and a 12-month high of $19.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.96 and a 200-day moving average of $15.21.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 9th. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $350.94 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a net margin of 41.72% and a return on equity of 57.30%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Enerplus Co. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st will be given a $0.06 dividend. This is a boost from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.01. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 30th. Enerplus’s payout ratio is currently 5.99%.

Enerplus Company Profile

Enerplus Corporation, together with subsidiaries, acquires, develops, and explores crude oil and natural gas in the United States. Its oil and natural gas properties are located primarily in North Dakota, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. Enerplus Corporation was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.