Foster & Motley Inc. Increases Holdings in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,147 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,190,115 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $684,699,000 after purchasing an additional 311,599 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 19.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,868,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $200,830,000 after buying an additional 641,010 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.4% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,456,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $127,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 1.9% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,202,352 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $62,414,000 after acquiring an additional 22,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 855,669 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $44,418,000 after buying an additional 33,903 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th.

National Fuel Gas Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NFG stock opened at $53.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.63. National Fuel Gas has a 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $56.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $525.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $664.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 21.58%. National Fuel Gas’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.495 dividend. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is currently 41.51%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.