Comerica Bank increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,713 shares of the oil and gas producer after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the same period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $2,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NFG. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 123.0% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 767 shares of the oil and gas producer worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,145 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.
Insider activity
In other news, General Counsel Michael W. Reville sold 6,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.83, for a total transaction of $348,554.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the General Counsel now directly owns 9,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,981.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.
Analysts set new price targets
Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of National Fuel Gas from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12. StockNews.com downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday.
Check out our latest report on National Fuel Gas
National fuel gas trade increases by 1.6%
NYSE:NFG opened at $58.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a liquidity ratio of 0.50 of 1.0 and a liquidity ratio of 0.77 of 2.0. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.62. National Fuel Gas has a 52-week low of $45.32 and a 52-week high of $59.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.31.
National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 16.42% and a return on equity of 14.80%. The company had revenue of $417.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.62 million. In the same quarter last year, the company reported $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter decreased 2.6% year-over-year. On average, equities analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will report earnings per share of $6 for the current fiscal year.
National Fuel Gas increases dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents an annualized dividend of $2.06 and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.87%.
National fuel gas profile
(Free report)
National Fuel Gas Company is a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, and Gathering and Supply. 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.
Further information
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