Eni SpA (NYSE:E) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Eni SpA has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from brokerages, with eight analysts recommending a hold and one suggesting a strong buy.
• The company reported a 12-month target price of $34.60, while its current price is around $34.77, reflecting its recent market performance.
• Eni announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5814, with a dividend yield of 6.7%, despite a high payout ratio of 104.32%.

Eni SpA (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.60.

A number of research firms have commented on E. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of ENI from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of ENI to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of ENI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th.

ENI Price Performance

NYSE:E opened at $34.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $58.68 billion, a PE ratio of 21.46 and a beta of 0.90. ENI has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $36.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company's 50-day moving average price is $35.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.32.

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

ENI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 25th will be paid a $0.5814 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 25th. This represents a $2.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. ENI's payout ratio is currently 104.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ENI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 500,039 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 66,784 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of ENI by 5.4% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 702,770 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $22,784,000 after buying an additional 35,772 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of ENI by 2.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of ENI by 12.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 478,192 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $15,503,000 after buying an additional 51,626 shares during the last quarter. 1.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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