Heartland Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in National Fuel Gas Company by 27.5%, leaving it with 104,861 shares valued at approximately $8.3 million.
• Several hedge funds have made significant changes to their stakes in National Fuel Gas, including Assetmark Inc., which increased its ownership by 9,475%.
• National Fuel Gas recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.535 per share, which reflects an annualized yield of 2.47%.

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,861 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 39,861 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of National Fuel Gas worth $8,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 9,475.0% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 383 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 223.2% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 656 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NFG. Scotiabank upped their target price on 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 National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NYSE NFG opened at $86.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.35, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.62. National Fuel Gas Company has a twelve month low of $56.29 and a twelve month high of $89.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $84.13 and a 200 day moving average of $77.92.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 1.91%. The business had revenue of $729.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.79 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.535 per share. 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 2.47%. This is a boost from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 497.67%.

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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