First Trust Advisors LP Buys 282,071 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 35.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,072,487 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 282,071 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $100,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NFG. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,035,345 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $343,962,000 after purchasing an additional 132,855 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 103.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,138,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $197,501,000 after buying an additional 1,087,067 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,816,217 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $145,446,000 after buying an additional 121,099 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 653.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,582,782 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $126,718,000 after buying an additional 1,372,742 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,445,601 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $115,735,000 after buying an additional 37,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on National Fuel Gas in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NFG opened at $82.43 on Friday. National Fuel Gas Company has a 1-year low of $75.17 and a 1-year high of $97.06. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $78.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.14). National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 27.48% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business had revenue of $858.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $856.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is presently 30.04%.

National Fuel Gas Company 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.