Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) Trading Down 6.3% – Here’s What Happened

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) fell 6.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $17.92 and last traded at $17.9650. Approximately 1,456,111 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 2,637,235 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NOG shares. Raymond James Financial set a $30.00 target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Northern Oil and Gas from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $25.00 price target on shares of Northern Oil and Gas and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America upped their price objective on Northern Oil and Gas from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Northern Oil and Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.88.

Northern Oil and Gas Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 0.68.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.03. Northern Oil and Gas had a negative net margin of 33.17% and a positive return on equity of 18.43%. The company had revenue of $5.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northern Oil and Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Northern Oil and Gas’s payout ratio is -28.26%.

Insider Activity at Northern Oil and Gas

In other Northern Oil and Gas news, Director Bahram Akradi bought 25,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.40 per share, with a total value of $499,744.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,713,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,240,813.60. This represents a 1.53% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Oil and Gas

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northern Oil and Gas by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 884,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,980,000 after purchasing an additional 128,545 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,873,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,453,000 after buying an additional 141,499 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 837,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,985,000 after buying an additional 181,557 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 187,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,018,000 after buying an additional 46,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Collar Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $2,877,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.80% of the company’s stock.

Northern Oil and Gas Company Profile

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc is a publicly traded independent energy company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in the Williston Basin, where it secures acreage positions and partners with drilling operators to advance upstream projects. Through strategic leasehold acquisitions and joint ventures, Northern Oil and Gas seeks to expand its footprint in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Northern Oil and Gas employs horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to develop unconventional resource plays, particularly in the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River formations of North Dakota and Montana.