Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Takes $20.89 Million Position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 263,825 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $20,892,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.29% of National Fuel Gas at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in 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 period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 98.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 715,645 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $56,672,000 after purchasing an additional 355,800 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,019,072 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $61,837,000 after purchasing an additional 279,857 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $14,486,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 62.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 458,112 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $36,557,000 after buying an additional 176,290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE NFG opened at $86.66 on Friday. National Fuel Gas Company has a 12 month low of $56.29 and a 12 month high of $89.82. The company has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $84.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.83.

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

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

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

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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