ENI (NYSE:E) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Eni SpA (NYSE:E) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $53.96, but opened at $55.72. ENI shares last traded at $55.6090, with a volume of 47,031 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on E shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of ENI in a report on Monday. UBS Group set a $90.00 target price on shares of ENI in a research report on Friday, September 25th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of ENI in a report on Friday, September 25th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded ENI from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.30 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded ENI from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.10.

ENI Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $94.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $54.85 and its 200-day moving average is $53.38.

ENI (NYSE:E) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.10. ENI had a net margin of 6.51% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $25.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.93 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Eni SpA will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be paid a $0.6335 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 24th. This is a boost from ENI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.6276. This represents a $2.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. ENI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ENI

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in ENI during the first quarter valued at about $63,334,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of ENI by 13.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 453,940 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $25,698,000 after purchasing an additional 52,901 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of ENI by 109.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 306,408 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $11,962,000 after purchasing an additional 160,324 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ENI by 35.3% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 133,035 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,531,000 after purchasing an additional 34,738 shares during the period. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of ENI during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,586,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

ENI Company Profile

Eni S.p.A. is an Italian integrated energy company headquartered in Rome. Established in 1953, the company operates across the energy value chain, with activities spanning oil and natural gas exploration and production, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, refining, chemicals, power generation and energy retail.

Eni explores for and produces hydrocarbons in multiple regions, including Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. Its downstream businesses include fuel refining and marketing, petrochemicals through Versalis, and natural gas and electricity sales.