Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Holdings in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,054 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,824 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in ENI were worth $2,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of ENI in the 4th quarter valued at about $957,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in ENI by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 28,823 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,223 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of ENI by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 23,621 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ENI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,233,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of ENI by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 33,464 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 3,877 shares during the last quarter. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ENI Price Performance

Shares of E stock opened at $30.19 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.72. Eni S.p.A. has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $33.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.88.

ENI (NYSE:E) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $25.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.52 billion. ENI had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 2.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eni S.p.A. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.5391 per share. This is a positive change from ENI’s previous — dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a yield of 5.5%. ENI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

E has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded ENI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of ENI from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.60.

ENI 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.