Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Has $12.79 Million Position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,300 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.18% of National Fuel Gas worth $12,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199,787 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $146,502,000 after purchasing an additional 117,351 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in National Fuel Gas by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,447,665 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $87,844,000 after purchasing an additional 70,332 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the fourth quarter worth $67,393,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,104,852 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,493,000 after buying an additional 22,320 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,019,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $61,837,000 after buying an additional 279,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG opened at $89.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 207.19, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.62. National Fuel Gas Company has a twelve month low of $56.29 and a twelve month high of $89.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.11.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $729.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.81 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 1.91%. National Fuel Gas’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 497.67%.

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.