Encana Co. (NYSE:ECA) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $6.00 to $4.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Analyst Ratings.Net reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on ECA. Societe Generale reissued a hold rating and issued a $11.50 price target (up previously from $9.50) on shares of Encana in a report on Monday, October 19th. Scotiabank reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Encana in a report on Friday, October 9th. FirstEnergy Capital lowered shares of Encana from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Encana from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price target for the company from $9.00 to $4.92 in a report on Tuesday, December 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank raised shares of Encana from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $12.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $9.94.

Encana (NYSE:ECA) opened at 4.38 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.70 and its 200 day moving average is $6.92. Encana has a 52-week low of $3.00 and a 52-week high of $14.73. The firm’s market capitalization is $3.70 billion.

Encana (NYSE:ECA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Encana will post ($0.20) EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 11th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.39%.

A number of hedge funds and institutional investors recently made changes to their positions in ECA. ICON Advisers raised its position in shares of Encana by 6.5% in the third quarter. ICON Advisers now owns 1,239,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,984,000 after buying an additional 75,200 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management raised its position in shares of Encana by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Nexus Investment Management now owns 591,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,006,000 after buying an additional 17,400 shares during the period. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co raised its position in shares of Encana by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 61,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 22,500 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Encana by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,752,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,469,000 after buying an additional 50,300 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Encana by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 413,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 15,825 shares during the period.

Encana Corporation is engaged in the business of the exploration, development, production and marketing of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids (NYSE:ECA). The Company operates through three business segments: Canadian Operations, which includes the exploration for, development of, and production of natural gas oil and NGLs and other related activities within Canada; USA Operations, which includes the exploration for, development of, and production of natural gas oil and NGLs and other related activities within the United States and Market Optimization, which includes third-party purchases and sales of products that provide operational flexibility for transportation commitments, product type, delivery points and customer diversification. Market Optimization sells all of the Company’s upstream production to third-party customers. Its growth assets include Permian; Tuscaloosa Marine Shale; Eagle Ford; Montney; Duvernay; DJ Basin, and San Juan.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:ECA

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