Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The oil and gas company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.07, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $51.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $50.24 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.81% and a return on equity of 8.24%.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

NYSE NGS traded down $0.17 on Wednesday, hitting $36.62. 3,396 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,353. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $461.35 million, a PE ratio of 22.74 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Natural Gas Services Group has a 1-year low of $23.96 and a 1-year high of $44.60.

Natural Gas Services Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NGS. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at $114,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 437.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,965 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 4,042 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. 65.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NGS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

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.