National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Shares Sold by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Capital Fund Management S.A. lowered its position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 19.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,455 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,333 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A.’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $2,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foster & Motley Inc. grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 69,353 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,875,000 after buying an additional 8,993 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the second quarter valued at $638,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 80.0% during the second quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 15,291 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 6,796 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in National Fuel Gas by 541.5% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 168,807 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $13,356,000 after purchasing an additional 142,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,623,000. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank cut shares of National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.00.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG stock opened at $82.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.60. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $94.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.83.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 21.76%. The company had revenue of $466.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $534.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. National Fuel Gas’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is 37.68%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.