Eni SpA (NYSE:E) Receives $31.60 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Key Points

• Eni SpA has received an average rating of "Hold" from analysts, with eight firms recommending to hold the stock and one suggesting a buy. The average target price is currently $31.60.
• Recently, Eni reported earnings of $0.79 per share, surpassing estimates, but fell short in revenue with $22.08 billion compared to the expected $23.54 billion.
• The company announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.5826 per share, resulting in a yield of 440.0%, although its payout ratio stands at a high 98.77%.

Eni SpA (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.60.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research downgraded ENI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Kepler Capital Markets cut ENI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $34.60 price target on ENI in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered ENI from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ENI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in ENI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $957,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in ENI by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 88,054 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $2,409,000 after purchasing an additional 11,824 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of ENI by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 734,368 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $20,092,000 after acquiring an additional 218,391 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of ENI by 336.7% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 78,820 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $2,157,000 after acquiring an additional 60,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of ENI by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,890 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 5,436 shares during the last quarter. 1.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ENI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:E traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $34.84. The company had a trading volume of 197,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 302,961. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $34.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.13. ENI has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $35.94.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $22.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.54 billion. ENI had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 2.84%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ENI will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

ENI Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.5826 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 440.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 23rd. ENI's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.77%.

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.