Bailard Inc. Purchases Shares of 22,100 Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 22,100 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ERF. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. bought a new position in Enerplus during the 4th quarter worth about $1,550,000. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Enerplus by 9.4% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 30,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 2,580 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 7,592.3% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,092,996 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $19,270,000 after buying an additional 1,078,787 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 18.8% during 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 buying an additional 1,164,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Enerplus by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,024,995 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $18,036,000 after buying an additional 230,048 shares during the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Enerplus Price Performance

Shares of ERF opened at $20.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.77 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.79. Enerplus Co. has a 1-year low of $13.46 and a 1-year high of $20.97.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $437.10 million for the quarter. Enerplus had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 40.36%. On average, research analysts forecast that Enerplus Co. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.