Captrust Financial Advisors Purchases 204 Shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,288 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 243.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 102,672 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,223,000 after purchasing an additional 72,802 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 82.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 481 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 26,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,579,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,894 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.67.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

National Fuel Gas stock opened at $81.28 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.33. National Fuel Gas has a 12 month low of $53.03 and a 12 month high of $83.35. The company has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -580.53 and a beta of 0.61.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a positive return on equity of 15.96% and a negative net margin of 0.53%. The company had revenue of $729.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 479.07%.

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.