Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) Position Boosted by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF - Free Report) TSE: ERF by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 580,435 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,000 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.29% of Enerplus worth $8,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ERF. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 30,835 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Enerplus by 8.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,647 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Enerplus by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 29,243 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Enerplus by 8.9% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,616 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Enerplus by 2.0% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 101,608 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enerplus Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ERF traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,283,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,991,177. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Enerplus Co. has a 1 year low of $13.46 and a 1 year high of $20.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.72.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF - Get Free Report) TSE: ERF last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $437.10 million during the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 40.36% and a net margin of 27.67%. Research analysts forecast that Enerplus Co. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. This is an increase from Enerplus's previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. Enerplus's payout ratio is currently 12.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ERF. TD Securities reaffirmed a "tender" rating and set a $18.85 price objective (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Enerplus in a report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. CIBC cut their price target on Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, National Bankshares cut their price target on Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.69.

Enerplus Profile

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.