National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $106.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on NFG shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of National Fuel Gas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock.

Institutional Trading of National Fuel Gas

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NFG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 653.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,582,782 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $126,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,742 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,415,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 103.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,138,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $197,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,067 shares during the last quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 521.0% in the fourth quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 1,105,979 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $88,545,000 after acquiring an additional 927,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in National Fuel Gas in the first quarter valued at approximately $63,863,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock opened at $79.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.41. National Fuel Gas has a 1-year low of $77.22 and a 1-year high of $97.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $88.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.31.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.85 by ($0.14). National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 27.48% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The company had revenue of $858.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $856.57 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.39 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 28.96%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

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.