National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Shares Sold by Nicholas Investment Partners LP

Nicholas Investment Partners LP reduced its stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 60.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,942 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,522 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 64,112 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,922,000 after acquiring an additional 21,861 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 158.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 95,206 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $8,794,000 after acquiring an additional 58,399 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 521,928 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,210,000 after acquiring an additional 223,459 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 100,255 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $9,261,000 after acquiring an additional 28,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 328.4% in the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 26,041 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 19,963 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on NFG. Zacks Research upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.00.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NFG opened at $77.52 on Friday. National Fuel Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $75.85 and a fifty-two week high of $97.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.02. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.14). National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 27.48%.The business had revenue of $858.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $856.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is currently 28.96%.

National Fuel Gas Profile

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged primarily in the production, gathering, transmission, distribution and marketing of natural gas. The company operates through four principal segments: Exploration & Production, Pipeline & Storage, Utilities, and Energy Marketing. Its integrated asset base spans upstream development in the Appalachian Basin, regional pipeline networks, underground storage facilities, and regulated utility distribution systems.

In its Exploration & Production segment, National Fuel Gas focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Marcellus and Utica shales, leveraging modern drilling and completion techniques.