Foster & Motley Inc. Has $4.78 Million Stock Position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Foster & Motley Inc. raised its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 56.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,360 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 21,673 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. owned about 0.07% of National Fuel Gas worth $4,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NFG. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,122 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth $203,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,184 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,908 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $259,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NFG traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.66. 892,193 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 648,914. National Fuel Gas Company has a 1-year low of $56.29 and a 1-year high of $89.82. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $84.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.59.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 21.15%. The company had revenue of $531.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $596.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NFG. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Company 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.