Scotiabank Increases National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Price Target to $102.00

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $98.00 to $102.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target indicates a potential upside of 16.27% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.67.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NFG opened at $87.73 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.39. National Fuel Gas has a 1 year low of $58.32 and a 1 year high of $89.82.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.12 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of National Fuel Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NFG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the second quarter worth $91,964,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 29.6% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,153,236 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $170,515,000 after purchasing an additional 491,890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 93.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 951,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $75,315,000 after purchasing an additional 460,100 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 642.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 465,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,460,000 after purchasing an additional 403,107 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 98.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 715,645 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,672,000 after purchasing an additional 355,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. 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.