First Trust Advisors LP Invests $957,000 in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in ENI by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,341 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of ENI by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 49,250 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of ENI by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in ENI by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,488 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in ENI by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 16,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ENI Stock Up 2.8 %

E traded up $0.79 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.41. The company had a trading volume of 269,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 320,101. The company has a market capitalization of $49.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.88. 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 one year low of $24.65 and a one year high of $33.12. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $28.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.72.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.92 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 the consensus estimate of $25.52 billion. ENI had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 11.03%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eni S.p.A. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

ENI Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on E shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.60.

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.