Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Takes $686,000 Position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Key Points

• Cary Street Partners Financial LLC invested $686,000 in National Fuel Gas Company, acquiring 8,660 shares during the first quarter.
• The company has recently received upgrades from multiple analysts, with Bank of America raising its price objective significantly from $85.00 to $107.00.
• National Fuel Gas has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.535, reflecting positive growth and resulting in a dividend yield of 2.4%.

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,660 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $686,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $170,515,000 after purchasing an additional 491,890 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,447,665 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $87,844,000 after purchasing an additional 70,332 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,104,852 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $87,493,000 after purchasing an additional 22,320 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,019,072 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $61,837,000 after purchasing an additional 279,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 989,487 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $60,043,000 after purchasing an additional 43,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 0.2%

NFG traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.68. The stock had a trading volume of 481,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 648,049. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $85.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.68. National Fuel Gas Company has a 52 week low of $58.30 and a 52 week high of $89.82.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.12 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.535 dividend. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.33.

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.