Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,579,371 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 427,159 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.92% of National Fuel Gas worth $996,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 9,475.0% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NFG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America raised National Fuel Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

NYSE NFG opened at $87.89 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $85.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.04, a PEG 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 Company has a 1-year low of $58.30 and a 1-year high of $89.82.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $596.12 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%. The company’s revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is 80.45%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

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.