AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 59,667 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas Company by 7.2%, acquiring an additional 59,667 shares, bringing its total to 893,866 shares valued at approximately $70.8 million.
• Several large investors, including LSV Asset Management and Invesco Ltd., have also significantly increased their stakes in National Fuel Gas during the first quarter of the year.
• National Fuel Gas recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.535 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 80.45%.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 893,866 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 59,667 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.99% of National Fuel Gas worth $70,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NFG. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,153,236 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $170,515,000 after purchasing an additional 491,890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 93.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 951,069 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $75,315,000 after purchasing an additional 460,100 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 98.9% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 715,645 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $56,672,000 after purchasing an additional 355,800 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas during the 1st quarter valued at about $20,892,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter worth $17,809,000. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on NFG. Wall Street Zen cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Zacks Research cut National Fuel Gas from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, National Fuel Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.67.

National Fuel Gas Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NFG traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.01. The company had a trading volume of 473,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,199. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $86.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.82. National Fuel Gas Company has a 52 week low of $58.82 and a 52 week high of $89.82. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.61.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%.The firm had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $596.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. National Fuel Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.000-8.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 6.800-6.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.45%.

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.