Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Says

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $39.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 10.35% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on NGS. Raymond James Financial lowered Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.00.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $39.87. 48,813 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 139,821. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.90. Natural Gas Services Group has a one year low of $16.73 and a one year high of $40.73. The company has a market capitalization of $502.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 11.56%.The business had revenue of $46.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.81 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $1,116,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 175,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,333.36. This trade represents a 14.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter worth $106,000. 65.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Natural Gas Services Group

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.