Insider Selling: Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.31, for a total value of $303,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 325,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,863,843.92. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Stephen Charles Taylor also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, November 7th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 11,152 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.06, for a total transaction of $324,077.12.
• On Thursday, November 6th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 100 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total value of $2,900.00.
• On Friday, September 26th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 7,915 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.50, for a total value of $225,577.50.
• On Thursday, September 25th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 759 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.50, for a total transaction of $21,631.50.
• On Wednesday, September 24th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 1,326 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.50, for a total transaction of $37,791.00.
• On Tuesday, September 23rd, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 11,457 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.95, for a total transaction of $320,223.15.
• On Friday, September 19th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 63 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $1,732.50.
• On Thursday, September 18th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 1,638 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total transaction of $45,045.00.
• On Wednesday, September 17th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 6,553 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.51, for a total value of $180,273.03.
• On Tuesday, September 16th, Stephen Charles Taylor sold 289 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.50, for a total value of $7,947.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Price Performance

NYSE:NGS traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $30.51. 198,303 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 72,076. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.89. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.73 and a 1-year high of $32.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.48 million, a PE ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 0.59.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $43.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 7.21%. Research analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is 29.73%.

Natural Gas Services Group declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the oil and gas company to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NGS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average target price of $35.50.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter worth about $251,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 370.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 136,748 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,004,000 after purchasing an additional 107,679 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter valued at $497,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter worth about $254,000. 65.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc provides natural gas compression equipment and services to the energy industry in the United States. It engineers and fabricates, operates, rents, and maintains natural gas compressors for oil and natural gas production and plant facilities. It also designs, fabricates, and assembles compressor units for rental or sale; and designs, manufactures, and sells a line of reciprocating natural gas compressor frames, cylinders, and parts.