Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Shares Sold by Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 68.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,918 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 38,471 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Enerplus were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ERF. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Enerplus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Enerplus by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,647 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Enerplus by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,616 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Enerplus by 1,314.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 257,590 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $4,541,000 after purchasing an additional 239,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Enerplus during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ERF has been the topic of several analyst reports. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. TD Securities reiterated a “tender” rating and issued a $18.85 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Enerplus in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, CIBC lowered their price target on Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.69.

Enerplus Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ERF opened at $20.15 on Tuesday. Enerplus Co. has a 12-month low of $13.46 and a 12-month high of $20.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.69.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. Enerplus had a return on equity of 40.36% and a net margin of 27.67%. The business had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Enerplus Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. This is a positive change from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Enerplus’s payout ratio is currently 12.38%.

Enerplus 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.