Enerplus Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:ERF)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 7th, 2023

Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF – Get Rating) (TSE:ERF) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 3,446 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 394% compared to the typical volume of 698 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enerplus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ERF. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. CWM LLC purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC purchased a new stake in Enerplus in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. 53.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Enerplus Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE ERF opened at $14.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 2.18. Enerplus has a one year low of $11.00 and a one year high of $19.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $15.70 and its 200-day moving average is $16.46.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF – Get Rating) (TSE:ERF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. Enerplus had a return on equity of 85.10% and a net margin of 37.93%. The business had revenue of $548.70 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that Enerplus will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.111 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 3rd. This is a boost from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ERF shares. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Enerplus from C$26.00 to C$25.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Enerplus in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Enerplus from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Enerplus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.75.

Enerplus Company Profile

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Enerplus Corp. engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. It conducts operations in Willston Basin, Marcellus Shale, and Canadian Waterfloods. The firm holds interests in North Dakota, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.