Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $42.82, but opened at $41.05. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $40.90, with a volume of 1,926 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.70 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $515.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.70 and its 200 day moving average is $36.13.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $48.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.09 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 7.99%. On average, analysts predict that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Natural Gas Services Group

In related news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $1,116,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.12% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 150.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 95,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 57,546 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 99.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,177 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 7,086 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 254.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 97,866 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,693,000 after acquiring an additional 70,233 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 86.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 45,674 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 21,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,312,000. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.