Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF)

Mackenzie Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 983,036 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 71,498 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.49% of Enerplus worth $15,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Enerplus by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,670 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in Enerplus by 2.6% during the third quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 30,835 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Enerplus by 8.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Enerplus by 80.3% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Enerplus by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ERF. CIBC lowered their target price on shares of Enerplus from $23.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. National Bankshares dropped their price objective on Enerplus from $25.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on Enerplus in a research note on Sunday, April 14th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “tender” rating and set a $18.85 price target (down from $21.00) on shares of Enerplus in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Enerplus currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.69.

Enerplus Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ERF stock opened at $19.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 1.99. Enerplus Co. has a 52-week low of $13.46 and a 52-week high of $20.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.44 and its 200 day moving average is $16.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $437.10 million for the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 40.36% and a net margin of 27.67%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Enerplus Co. will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This is a positive change from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Enerplus’s payout ratio is presently 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.