ENI (NYSE:E) Share Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• ENI shares crossed above their 50-day moving average, trading as high as $56.86 and last changing hands at $56.738, up 1.5%.
• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: ENI has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $58.45, though recent ratings include both upgrades and downgrades.
• Quarterly earnings beat expectations, with EPS of $2.13 versus $1.87 forecast, and ENI raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6335 per share, a yield of about 4.5%.

Eni SpA (NYSE:E - Get Free Report)'s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.48 and traded as high as $56.86. ENI shares last traded at $56.7380, with a volume of 339,835 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

E has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded ENI from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $56.30 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ENI from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. HSBC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of ENI in a research note on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ENI in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ENI in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ENI presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.45.

ENI Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $56.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.55.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, October 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $29.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.89 billion. ENI had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 13.84%. As a group, research analysts expect that Eni SpA will post 6.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a $0.6335 dividend. This is a boost from ENI's previous quarterly dividend of $0.6276. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. This represents a $2.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. ENI's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of ENI during the first quarter worth $63,334,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of ENI by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 453,940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $25,698,000 after purchasing an additional 52,901 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ENI by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,171 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 11,136 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of ENI during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,586,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in ENI during the third quarter worth approximately $4,222,000. Institutional investors own 1.18% of the company's stock.

ENI Company Profile

Eni S.p.A. is an Italian integrated energy company headquartered in Rome. Established in 1953 as Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, it has developed from a state energy enterprise into an international business spanning multiple parts of the energy value chain. The company explores for and produces oil and natural gas, and is active in natural gas supply, liquefied natural gas, refining and the marketing of energy products. Its businesses also include chemicals and power generation. Eni operates in Italy and in countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia.

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