Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $30.57 and traded as high as $38.63. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $38.3350, with a volume of 82,046 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.57. The firm has a market cap of $481.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90 and a beta of 0.39.

Natural Gas Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jean K. Holley purchased 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,167.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 14,390 shares in the company, valued at $461,055.60. The trade was a 17.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $331,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 831.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,776 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 11,404 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 98,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after acquiring an additional 5,125 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 117.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 11,420 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 6,166 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 299,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $225,000. 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.