Trexquant Investment LP Grows Position in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in Enerplus Co. (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) by 467.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,611 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 163,632 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.10% of Enerplus worth $3,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Enerplus during the 4th quarter worth about $1,550,000. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Enerplus by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. now owns 30,000 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 2,580 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,398,030 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $21,429,000 after buying an additional 74,880 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Enerplus by 7,592.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,092,996 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $19,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Enerplus by 18.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,366,419 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $130,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,478 shares during the last quarter. 58.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enerplus Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of ERF stock traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.20. 3,781,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,524,828. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. Enerplus Co. has a twelve month low of $13.46 and a twelve month high of $20.97.

Enerplus (NYSE:ERF) (TSE:ERF) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $437.10 million for the quarter. Enerplus had a net margin of 24.09% and a return on equity of 33.88%. As a group, analysts forecast that Enerplus Co. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enerplus Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $0.065 dividend. This represents a $0.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. Enerplus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ERF has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Enerplus in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut Enerplus from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on Enerplus from $19.07 to $20.09 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.87.

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.