Phocas Financial Corp. Takes $1.47 Million Position in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. $NGS

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 43,688 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,024 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 92,394 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 31,187 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. 65.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natural Gas Services Group Price Performance

NYSE NGS opened at $38.10 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 0.39. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.73 and a 1-year high of $40.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.92.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $46.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.81 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 11.56%. On average, equities analysts predict that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 28.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NGS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Natural Gas Services Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Insider Activity at Natural Gas Services Group

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total transaction of $1,116,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 175,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,531,333.36. This represents a 14.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.