National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) Shares Sold by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp lowered its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,166,937 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 67,053 shares during the quarter. National Fuel Gas comprises about 2.1% of Equity Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $92,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NFG. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 1.2% during the first quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 15,598 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,288 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 12.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,045 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 20,291 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on NFG. Scotiabank upped their target price on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America raised National Fuel Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG stock opened at $88.86 on Wednesday. National Fuel Gas Company has a 12-month low of $56.29 and a 12-month high of $94.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 206.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $729.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 497.67%.

National Fuel Gas 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.