Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG)

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 8,324 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 325% compared to the average volume of 1,959 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NOG shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Northern Oil and Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Raymond James Financial set a $30.00 target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Northern Oil and Gas from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Oil and Gas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.88.

Insider Transactions at Northern Oil and Gas

In other Northern Oil and Gas news, Director Bahram Akradi purchased 25,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.40 per share, for a total transaction of $499,744.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,713,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,240,813.60. This represents a 1.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Oil and Gas

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Northern Oil and Gas by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 82,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 91,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. 98.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NOG traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $17.53. 2,131,220 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,701,439. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.22 and its 200-day moving average is $24.30. Northern Oil and Gas has a 1 year low of $17.18 and a 1 year high of $31.28.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.38 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a negative net margin of 33.17% and a positive return on equity of 18.43%. Northern Oil and Gas’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northern Oil and Gas will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Northern Oil and Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.26%.

Northern Oil and Gas Company Profile

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc is a publicly traded independent energy company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in the Williston Basin, where it secures acreage positions and partners with drilling operators to advance upstream projects. Through strategic leasehold acquisitions and joint ventures, Northern Oil and Gas seeks to expand its footprint in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Northern Oil and Gas employs horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to develop unconventional resource plays, particularly in the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River formations of North Dakota and Montana.