Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.60 and traded as high as $41.52. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $41.46, with a volume of 63,324 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Down 3.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $502.66 million, a P/E ratio of 23.19 and a beta of 0.41.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm had revenue of $48.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.09 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This is a boost from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 150.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 95,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,619,000 after buying an additional 57,546 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 7,086 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 254.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 97,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 70,233 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 45,674 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 21,189 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter worth about $2,312,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc (NYSE: NGS) is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.