National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NFG shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Monday, December 15th. Scotiabank cut National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Fuel Gas

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 7.7% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 11,175 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 115.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 35,607 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after acquiring an additional 19,111 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,413 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,814,000 after acquiring an additional 30,694 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 15.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,174,783 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $93,031,000 after purchasing an additional 155,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NFG opened at $82.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.60. National Fuel Gas has a fifty-two week low of $59.57 and a fifty-two week high of $94.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.84.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $466.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 22.86%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.535 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.68%.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged primarily in the production, gathering, transmission, distribution and marketing of natural gas. The company operates through four principal segments: Exploration & Production, Pipeline & Storage, Utilities, and Energy Marketing. Its integrated asset base spans upstream development in the Appalachian Basin, regional pipeline networks, underground storage facilities, and regulated utility distribution systems.

In its Exploration & Production segment, National Fuel Gas focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Marcellus and Utica shales, leveraging modern drilling and completion techniques.