Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Natural Gas Services Group Price Performance

Shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock opened at $22.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.13. Natural Gas Services Group has a twelve month low of $16.70 and a twelve month high of $29.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.98.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $40.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.84 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 6.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natural Gas Services Group

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 19,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.80, for a total transaction of $558,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 438,387 shares in the company, valued at $12,625,545.60. This represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 6,022 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 129.1% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. FCA Corp TX acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $188,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc provides natural gas compression equipment and services to the energy industry in the United States. It engineers and fabricates, operates, rents, and maintains natural gas compressors for oil and natural gas production and plant facilities. It also designs, fabricates, and assembles compressor units for rental or sale; and designs, manufactures, and sells a line of reciprocating natural gas compressor frames, cylinders, and parts.