Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $28.19 and traded as high as $34.88. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $34.1610, with a volume of 219,536 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NGS shares. Zacks Research upgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.19. The stock has a market cap of $429.40 million, a P/E ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.13. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The business had revenue of $43.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.25 million. Equities analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.73%.

Insider Transactions at Natural Gas Services Group

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Jean K. Holley bought 2,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,167.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $461,055.60. This trade represents a 17.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $331,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 285,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,464,925.12. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,604,077. Company insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 831.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,776 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 11,404 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 98,479 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after buying an additional 5,125 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 57,251 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the second quarter worth approximately $819,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc (NYSE: NGS) is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.