First Trust Advisors LP Acquires New Holdings in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E)

First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 34,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of ENI in the 4th quarter valued at about $14,233,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ENI in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,882,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of ENI by 35.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 280,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $7,667,000 after acquiring an additional 73,511 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $16,601,000 after acquiring an additional 70,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of ENI in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

E has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut ENI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.60.

ENI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:E traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.02. 156,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 320,783. Eni S.p.A. has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $33.12. The firm has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $25.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.52 billion. ENI had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 2.76%. Research analysts expect that Eni S.p.A. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.5391 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This is a boost from ENI's previous -- dividend of $0.35. This represents a yield of 5.5%. ENI's dividend payout ratio is presently 89.82%.

ENI Company Profile

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.