South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stake in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 580,435 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,000 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.29% of Enerplus worth $8,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Enerplus during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the third quarter worth about $38,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Enerplus by 356.5% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,958 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Enerplus during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Enerplus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $179,000. Institutional investors own 58.42% of the company’s stock.

Enerplus Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ERF traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.29. 816,713 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,983,877. The stock has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 1.99. Enerplus Co. has a 52-week low of $13.46 and a 52-week high of $20.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.61 and a two-hundred day 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. Enerplus had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 40.36%. The firm had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enerplus Co. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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