Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.93 Million Stock Holdings in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 39.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,383 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 6,841 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $1,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,393,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 37.9% during the fourth 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 period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,906,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,067,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 13,154.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 131,614 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $10,423,000 after purchasing an additional 130,621 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $84.21. The company had a trading volume of 451,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,915. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $82.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.96. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $54.05 and a one year high of $86.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 195.84, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.62.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $729.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.81 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.535 dividend. This is a boost from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio is 497.67%.

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.