Aegis Financial Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. $NGS

Key Points

• Aegis Financial Corp cut its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 12.5% in the first quarter, selling 84,100 shares and leaving it with 587,012 shares worth about $22.15 million. The stock still made up 3.8% of Aegis’s portfolio, its 11th largest holding.
• Natural Gas Services Group posted solid quarterly results, reporting $0.53 EPS versus the $0.45 consensus estimate and revenue of $48.47 million, topping forecasts. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.11.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with multiple analysts raising targets and issuing buy ratings. The stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average target price of $50.50.

Aegis Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Free Report) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 587,012 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 84,100 shares during the period. Natural Gas Services Group accounts for approximately 3.8% of Aegis Financial Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Aegis Financial Corp owned 4.66% of Natural Gas Services Group worth $22,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NGS. Weber Capital Management LLC ADV purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,777,000. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,470,000. Illumine Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,056,000. Brasada Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $642,000. 65.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NGS opened at $39.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $496.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.70. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.72 and a fifty-two week high of $44.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.71.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $48.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.09 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 7.99%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Natural Gas Services Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NGS. Zacks Research raised shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Natural Gas Services Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $50.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc NYSE: NGS is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.

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