Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 25,800 National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 25,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,294,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 20.7% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,298,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $504,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,192 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,771,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $724,553,000 after purchasing an additional 892,065 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,631,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 2,307.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 727,659 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,773,000 after purchasing an additional 697,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 19.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,868,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $200,830,000 after buying an additional 641,010 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NFG opened at $53.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.80. National Fuel Gas has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $56.67.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $525.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $664.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 21.58% and a return on equity of 14.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.495 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is 41.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on National Fuel Gas from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.