Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Acquires New Stake in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. $NGS

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group, purchasing 15,131 shares valued at approximately $332,000 in the first quarter of the year.
• Natural Gas Services Group's board authorized a $6.00 million stock buyback program, indicating a belief that the company's shares are undervalued.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, representing a 1.5% dividend yield for stockholders.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,131 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $332,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned about 0.12% of Natural Gas Services Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 4,293.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming boosted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 116.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,427 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $241,000. Institutional investors own 65.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natural Gas Services Group presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $270,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 403,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,890,018. This represents a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jean K. Holley acquired 3,752 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.58 per share, for a total transaction of $99,728.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,324. The trade was a 92.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 5.08% of the company's stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock traded up $0.39 on Monday, hitting $27.07. The company had a trading volume of 53,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 72,922. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 0.57. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.73 and a 1 year high of $29.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.12 and a 200-day moving average of $23.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $41.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.87 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 10.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Natural Gas Services Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.17%.

Natural Gas Services Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc provides natural gas compression equipment and services to the energy industry in the United States. It engineers and fabricates, operates, rents, and maintains natural gas compressors for oil and natural gas production and plant facilities. It also designs, fabricates, and assembles compressor units for rental or sale; and designs, manufactures, and sells a line of reciprocating natural gas compressor frames, cylinders, and parts.