Illumine Investment Management LLC Purchases New Position in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. $NGS

Key Points

• Illumine Investment Management opened a new position in Natural Gas Services Group, buying 27,985 shares worth about $1.06 million in the first quarter. The stake represented 0.22% of the company at quarter-end.
• Natural Gas Services Group reported better-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $0.53 versus estimates of $0.45 and revenue of $48.47 million versus $47.09 million expected.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.11, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $50.50.

Illumine Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 27,985 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,056,000. Illumine Investment Management LLC owned 0.22% of Natural Gas Services Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NGS. Weber Capital Management LLC ADV purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at $16,777,000. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,470,000. Acuitas Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 216,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,065,000 after acquiring an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth about $516,000. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $642,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company's stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NGS stock opened at $40.48 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $41.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $510.10 million, a P/E ratio of 23.54 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.70. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.72 and a fifty-two week high of $44.60.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $48.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.09 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 7.99%. Research analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Natural Gas Services Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NGS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research raised Natural Gas Services Group from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Natural Gas Services Group from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc NYSE: NGS is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.

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