Traders Buy Large Volume of Northern Oil and Gas Call Options (NYSE:NOG)

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 4,489 call options on the company. This is an increase of 115% compared to the average volume of 2,086 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on NOG. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.71.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

NOG opened at $27.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.71 and a beta of 0.94. Northern Oil and Gas has a 12-month low of $19.88 and a 12-month high of $32.62.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.12. Northern Oil and Gas had a return on equity of 19.74% and a net margin of 1.57%.The company had revenue of $610.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northern Oil and Gas will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. Northern Oil and Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 545.45%.

Institutional Trading of Northern Oil and Gas

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 14,492 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 3.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 58,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,763,000 after buying an additional 1,865 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 181.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 5.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after buying an additional 3,124 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Northern Oil and Gas by 41.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 46,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 13,690 shares in the last quarter. 98.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc is a publicly traded independent energy company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in the Williston Basin, where it secures acreage positions and partners with drilling operators to advance upstream projects. Through strategic leasehold acquisitions and joint ventures, Northern Oil and Gas seeks to expand its footprint in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Northern Oil and Gas employs horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to develop unconventional resource plays, particularly in the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River formations of North Dakota and Montana.