Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $28.52 and traded as high as $34.99. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $34.5640, with a volume of 427,826 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $434.47 million, a P/E ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $43.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 11.20%. As a group, analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.73%.

Insider Activity at Natural Gas Services Group

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $331,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 285,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,464,925.12. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jean K. Holley purchased 2,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.04 per share, with a total value of $70,167.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $461,055.60. The trade was a 17.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 51,252 shares of company stock worth $1,604,077 over the last three months. 5.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% during the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the second quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the third quarter worth approximately $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc (NYSE: NGS) is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.