Eni SpA (NYSE:E) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Eni SpA (NYSE:E) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.60.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ENI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $34.60 price objective on ENI in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of ENI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. HSBC cut ENI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of ENI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ENI

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ENI by 6.6% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 3,113,710 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $108,824,000 after acquiring an additional 192,646 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in ENI by 9.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 801,152 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $24,780,000 after buying an additional 66,784 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of ENI by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 702,770 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $22,784,000 after buying an additional 35,772 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in ENI by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 636,891 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $22,259,000 after purchasing an additional 158,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in ENI by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 541,031 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $18,909,000 after buying an additional 32,107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

ENI Price Performance

NYSE:E opened at $38.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.56. The stock has a market cap of $64.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. ENI has a one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $38.44.

ENI (NYSE:E) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.17. ENI had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 3.20%.The business had revenue of $23.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.88 billion. Analysts anticipate that ENI will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

ENI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.5814 dividend. This represents a $2.33 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. ENI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.43%.

About ENI

Eni SpA engages in the exploration, production, refining, and sale of oil, gas, electricity, and chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Global Gas and LNG Portfolio, Refining & Marketing and Chemicals, Power & Renewables, and Corporate and Other Activities.