Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E - Free Report) by 46.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 362,500 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 319,219 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in ENI were worth $9,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in ENI by 277.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 30,974 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 22,768 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in ENI in the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in ENI in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in ENI by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 23,445 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in ENI in the fourth quarter worth about $103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.18% of the company's stock.

ENI Stock Down 0.1%

E stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.19. 317,028 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 322,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Eni S.p.A. has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $33.12.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $25.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.52 billion. ENI had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 11.03%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eni S.p.A. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.5391 dividend. This is a positive change from ENI's previous -- dividend of $0.35. This represents a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. ENI's payout ratio is currently 89.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.60.

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.