Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Invests $1.05 Million in National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,413 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NFG. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 9,475.0% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new position in National Fuel Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 316.7% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 400 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 355.1% during the 2nd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 405 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter worth $55,000. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on NFG shares. Zacks Research lowered National Fuel Gas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.00.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

NFG stock opened at $82.21 on Tuesday. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $94.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $466.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $534.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.68%.

About National Fuel Gas

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.