Enerplus Co. (TSE:ERF) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.07 Per Share

Enerplus Co. (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.065 per share by the oil and natural gas company on Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $0.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 21st. This is a boost from Enerplus’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.06.

Enerplus Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of TSE:ERF opened at C$27.57 on Thursday. Enerplus has a 52-week low of C$18.23 and a 52-week high of C$28.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.31. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 2.65. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$26.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$22.94.

Enerplus (TSE:ERF) (NYSE:ERF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The oil and natural gas company reported C$0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.71 by C$0.03. The company had revenue of C$595.12 million for the quarter. Enerplus had a return on equity of 39.59% and a net margin of 29.85%. As a group, analysts forecast that Enerplus will post 3.001087 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ERF shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Enerplus from C$24.00 to C$25.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Desjardins lifted their price target on Enerplus from C$19.25 to C$20.00 and gave the stock a “tender” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. National Bankshares dropped their price target on Enerplus from C$21.00 to C$18.85 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Enerplus from C$27.25 to C$32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$24.36.

Insider Activity at Enerplus

In other Enerplus news, Senior Officer Ian Charles Dundas sold 104,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$24.13, for a total transaction of C$2,521,965.58. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Enerplus Company 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.