Meritage Portfolio Management Buys 76,170 Shares of Eni SpA (NYSE:E)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its holdings in shares of Eni SpA (NYSE:E - Free Report) by 102.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,200 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 76,170 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in ENI were worth $4,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in ENI by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 734,368 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $20,092,000 after acquiring an additional 218,391 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in ENI by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 606,769 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $16,601,000 after acquiring an additional 70,507 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in ENI in the 4th quarter worth $14,233,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in ENI by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 388,578 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $10,631,000 after acquiring an additional 35,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in ENI by 215.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 327,201 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $8,952,000 after acquiring an additional 223,597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on E. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets cut shares of ENI from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.60.

ENI Stock Down 5.2%

NYSE E traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.62. 307,885 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 293,872. Eni SpA has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $33.35. The firm has a market cap of $53.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $25.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.52 billion. ENI had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 9.16%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eni SpA will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

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

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.