SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 46,493 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 77.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,791 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 46,493 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $1,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NFG. State Street Corp lifted its position in National Fuel Gas by 3.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 132,855 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 103.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,138,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $197,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,067 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 7.1% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 121,099 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,372,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,445,601 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $115,735,000 after purchasing an additional 37,056 shares during the period. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on NFG shares. Zacks Research raised National Fuel Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on National Fuel Gas in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.00.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock opened at $79.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.37. National Fuel Gas Company has a twelve month low of $75.17 and a twelve month high of $97.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.53.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 27.48%.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 previous year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.