Empirical Finance LLC Purchases Shares of 7,454 National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,454 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $576,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $710,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,983,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,614,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,629,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,101,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

National Fuel Gas stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.37. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $75.17 and a one year high of $97.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.20.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $537.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $564.33 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 26.97% and a return on equity of 19.04%. National Fuel Gas’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on NFG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is a diversified energy company with operations spanning natural gas exploration and production, pipeline transportation and storage, and utility distribution. Through its subsidiaries, the company develops, produces, gathers, stores and transports natural gas, primarily serving markets in the northeastern United States.

National Fuel’s exploration and production business is operated through Seneca Resources Company, which focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Appalachian region, including the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.