Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduces stake in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Free Report) by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The company owned 53,098 shares of the oil and gas producer after selling 8,318 shares during the same period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of National Fuel Gas worth $2,877,000, according to its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,313,064 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $715,178,000 after buying an additional 104,587 shares during the same period. Energy Income Partners LLC increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 2.4% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,595,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $139,427,000 after buying an additional 62,009 shares during the same period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 3.5% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,508,682 shares of the oil and gas producer worth $134,766,000 after buying an additional 84,305 shares during the same period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 7.9% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,320,850 shares of the oil and gas producer worth $70,956,000 after buying an additional 96,410 shares during the same period. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 27.7% in the first quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,242,186 shares of the oil and gas producer worth $66,730,000 after buying an additional 269,441 shares during the same period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s shares.

Wall Street analysts comment

NFG has been the subject of numerous analyst reports lately. StockNews.com downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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 12th.

Check out our latest stock analysis on NFG

Performance of National Fuel Gas shares

NFG shares opened at $59.07 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $56.56 and its 200-day moving average is $53.83. National Fuel Gas has a 52-week low of $45.32 and a 52-week high of $59.62. The company has a liquidity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.62.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Get Free Report) released its latest earnings results on Wednesday, July 31. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Overall, equities analysts expect National Fuel Gas to report earnings per share of $6 for the current year.

National Fuel Gas increases dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents an annualized dividend of $2.06 and a yield of 3.49%. This is a positive change from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.87%.

Insider activities at National Fuel Gas

In related news, General Counsel Michael W. Reville sold 6,357 shares of the company’s stock 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC’s website. Company insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Company 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.

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