Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Position Cut by Tobam

Tobam cut its stake in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF - Free Report) TSE: ERF by 94.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,043 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 122,395 shares during the period. Tobam's holdings in Enerplus were worth $108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Enerplus in the third quarter valued at approximately $88,150,000. Palo Duro Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Enerplus in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,125,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Enerplus in the first quarter valued at approximately $20,622,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 74.2% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,986,433 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $37,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271,801 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 2,503.6% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 1,144,173 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $16,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,227 shares during the period. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Enerplus in a report on Saturday, April 6th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. TD Securities restated a "tender" rating and issued a $18.85 target price (down previously from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, CIBC lowered their target price on shares of Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Enerplus presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $21.69.

Enerplus Stock Performance

ERF stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $20.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,811,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,108,538. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.57. Enerplus Co. has a 1 year low of $13.46 and a 1 year high of $20.97. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF - Get Free Report) TSE: ERF last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. Enerplus had a net margin of 27.67% and a return on equity of 40.36%. The firm had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Enerplus Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from Enerplus's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Enerplus's dividend payout ratio is 12.38%.

About Enerplus

Enerplus Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, explores and develops crude oil and natural gas in the United States. Its oil and natural gas properties are located primarily in North Dakota, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.