Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Stock Price Up 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) shares rose 5.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.70 and last traded at $40.9830. 53,705 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 124,554 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.20. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $513.68 million, a P/E ratio of 23.67 and a beta of 0.40.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 7.99%. The firm had revenue of $48.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.09 million. Research analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Weber Capital Management LLC ADV acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,777,000. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,470,000. Acuitas Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 8.2% in the third quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 216,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,065,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Brasada Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $516,000. Finally, Cannell Capital LLC grew its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 359,021 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,049,000 after acquiring an additional 27,405 shares during the last quarter. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.