Stifel Nicolaus Raises Enerplus (TSE:ERF) Price Target to C$32.00

Enerplus (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) had its price target raised by Stifel Nicolaus from C$27.25 to C$32.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ERF. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Enerplus from C$21.00 to C$18.85 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Enerplus from C$24.00 to C$25.50 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. ATB Capital dropped their price objective on Enerplus from C$27.00 to C$26.50 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Desjardins increased their price objective on Enerplus from C$17.50 to C$19.25 and gave the stock a tender rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$24.36.

Enerplus Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ERF stock opened at C$27.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 9.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.65. Enerplus has a 1-year low of C$18.23 and a 1-year high of C$28.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$25.65 and a 200 day moving average of C$22.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.31, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Enerplus (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported C$0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.71 by C$0.03. The company had revenue of C$595.12 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 29.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Enerplus will post 3.001087 earnings per share for the current year.

Enerplus Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a mar 24 dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Enerplus’s payout ratio is presently 12.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Ian Charles Dundas sold 104,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$24.13, for a total value of C$2,521,965.58. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Enerplus

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.