SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 46,493 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 77.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,791 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 46,493 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $1,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $48,210,000 after buying an additional 223,459 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 31.4% during the third quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 45,118 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,168,000 after buying an additional 10,773 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 3,320.0% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 14,535 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 14,110 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas during the fourth quarter worth $7,086,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 61,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 28,293 shares in the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NFG opened at $79.19 on Friday. 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 Company has a 12-month low of $75.17 and a 12-month high of $97.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.78 and a 200-day moving average of $84.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.37.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $856.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.58 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.04%.

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.