ENI (NYSE:E) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Eni SpA (NYSE:E - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $33.51 and last traded at $33.42, with a volume of 113439 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on E shares. Kepler Capital Markets lowered ENI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.60.

ENI Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $56.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.43.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.01. ENI had a return on equity of 9.16% and a net margin of 2.85%. The business had revenue of $25.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.52 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eni SpA will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a -- dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were paid a $0.5391 dividend. This is an increase from ENI's previous -- dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a yield of 5.5%. ENI's dividend payout ratio is presently 94.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ENI

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of E. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ENI by 21.9% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,779,073 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $85,957,000 after acquiring an additional 500,039 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of ENI by 9.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 801,152 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $24,780,000 after acquiring an additional 66,784 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of ENI by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 606,769 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $16,601,000 after buying an additional 70,507 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of ENI by 2.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 531,030 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $16,425,000 after buying an additional 10,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of ENI by 9.8% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 426,566 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $13,194,000 after buying an additional 37,988 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.18% of the company's stock.

ENI Company Profile

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.