National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 67.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,662 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in National Fuel Gas by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in National Fuel Gas by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,288 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its position in National Fuel Gas by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 20,291 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in National Fuel Gas by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in National Fuel Gas by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,122 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock opened at $84.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 195.84, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.62. National Fuel Gas Company has a 1-year low of $54.05 and a 1-year high of $86.45.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $729.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.81 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is presently 497.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.33.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

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.