ENI (NYSE:E) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of ENI (NYSE:E) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

E has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of ENI in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. They issued an equal weight rating for the company. Redburn Atlantic upgraded ENI from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut ENI from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded ENI from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $39.60.

ENI Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE E opened at $32.51 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $54.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.96. ENI has a 12 month low of $28.82 and a 12 month high of $34.30.

ENI (NYSE:E) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $24.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.74 billion. ENI had a net margin of 4.21% and a return on equity of 11.84%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ENI will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.372 per share. This is a positive change from ENI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. ENI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.79%.

Institutional Trading of ENI

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of ENI by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 2,257,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $76,779,000 after acquiring an additional 377,642 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in ENI by 365.8% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 335,353 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $11,405,000 after purchasing an additional 263,362 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in ENI during the second quarter valued at $6,875,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ENI in the 2nd quarter worth $3,764,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new position in shares of ENI in the 2nd quarter worth $3,141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

ENI Company Profile

Eni S.p.A. operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company engages in exploration, development, extracting, manufacturing, and marketing crude oil and natural gas, oil-based fuels, chemical products, and gas-fired power, as well as energy products from renewable sources. It operates through Exploration & Production; Global Gas & LNG Portfolio (GGP); Enilive, Refining and Chemicals; Plenitude & Power; and Corporate and Other Activities segments.