Bailard Inc. Acquires New Shares in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Bailard Inc. bought a new position in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,937 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 44.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,498,205 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $151,416,000 after acquiring an additional 765,236 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 920,918 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,817,000 after purchasing an additional 7,830 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 325,966 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $19,757,000 after purchasing an additional 24,564 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 33.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 220,869 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $13,386,000 after purchasing an additional 55,152 shares during the period. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 159,753 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $9,694,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus raised National Fuel Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, National Fuel Gas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.00.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG opened at $74.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $68.18 and its 200-day moving average is $63.40. National Fuel Gas has a 12-month low of $49.90 and a 12-month high of $76.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -533.98 and a beta of 0.64.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.22. National Fuel Gas had a positive return on equity of 15.96% and a negative net margin of 0.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -1,471.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other National Fuel Gas news, insider Donna L. Decarolis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.58, for a total transaction of $625,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 81,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,101,459.02. This represents a 10.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.