CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Acquires New Position in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,631 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,584,155 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $156,807,000 after purchasing an additional 85,950 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199,787 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $146,502,000 after acquiring an additional 117,351 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 70,332 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,393,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 279,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on NFG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:NFG opened at $82.51 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.39. National Fuel Gas has a twelve month low of $53.03 and a twelve month high of $84.27. The company has a market capitalization of $7.46 billion, a PE ratio of -589.34 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a negative net margin of 0.53% and a positive return on equity of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $729.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.79 EPS. National Fuel Gas's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 479.07%.

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.

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