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

Shares of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $37.52 and traded as high as $43.33. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $43.27, with a volume of 142,102 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on NGS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Up 2.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $545.20 million, a PE ratio of 25.16 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $48.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.09 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.99% and a net margin of 12.17%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 2.02 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, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 20th. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.