ENI (NYSE:E) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on E. Kepler Capital Markets lowered ENI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ENI has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.60.

ENI Trading Down 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $56.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

ENI Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.5391 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.5%. This is an increase from ENI's previous -- dividend of $0.35. ENI's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ENI

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ENI by 21.9% in 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 buying an additional 500,039 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 worth $24,780,000 after buying 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.

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.