WNY Asset Management LLC Increases Position in National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

WNY Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,155 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. WNY Asset Management LLC’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $2,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 14.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,993 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $638,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,184 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,908 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on NFG. Scotiabank lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $102.00 to $106.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.00.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG stock opened at $80.19 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.46. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $58.82 and a one year high of $94.13. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.58.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 80.45%.

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.