Informed Momentum Co LLC Purchases New Position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Key Points

• Informed Momentum Co LLC has made a new investment of approximately $4.37 million in National Fuel Gas Company by purchasing 55,155 shares in the first quarter.
• National Fuel Gas reported earnings of $1.64 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, while revenues were up 27.4% year-over-year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.535 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders with an annualized yield of 2.4%.

Informed Momentum Co LLC bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 55,155 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $4,368,000. Informed Momentum Co LLC owned about 0.06% of National Fuel Gas at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 29.6% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,153,236 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $170,515,000 after purchasing an additional 491,890 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,447,665 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $87,844,000 after purchasing an additional 70,332 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,104,852 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $87,493,000 after acquiring an additional 22,320 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,019,072 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $61,837,000 after acquiring an additional 279,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 989,487 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $60,043,000 after acquiring an additional 43,656 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NFG. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.67.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:NFG traded down $0.49 on Friday, hitting $87.29. 563,661 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 642,475. The company has a market cap of $7.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.06. National Fuel Gas Company has a 52 week low of $58.32 and a 52 week high of $89.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $596.12 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 20.81%. National Fuel Gas's revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.535 dividend. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.45%.

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.