Short Interest in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) Expands By 19.6%

Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 915,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 31st total of 765,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 286,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in E. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ENI by 12.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,546,312 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $77,179,000 after acquiring an additional 288,968 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in ENI by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 734,368 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $20,092,000 after purchasing an additional 218,391 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in ENI by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 606,769 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $16,601,000 after purchasing an additional 70,507 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in ENI by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 583,677 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $17,691,000 after purchasing an additional 146,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in ENI in the fourth quarter worth about $14,233,000. Institutional investors own 1.18% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group lowered shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $31.60 target price (down previously from $37.50) on shares of ENI in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ENI has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.60.

ENI Stock Up 3.2 %

NYSE:E traded up $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.53. 356,521 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,985. ENI has a one year low of $26.12 and a one year high of $33.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.49. The company has a market cap of $49.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

ENI Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.3549 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.1%. ENI's payout ratio is currently 83.63%.

ENI Company 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.