National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Shares Purchased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 25.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,988 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 10,875 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of National Fuel Gas worth $4,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NFG. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 9,475.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 316.7% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 355.1% in the second quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 405 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $55,000. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Scotiabank downgraded National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered National Fuel Gas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NFG opened at $81.77 on Friday. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $94.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.74, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $84.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.75.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $466.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $534.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 37.68%.

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.