Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $17.55 Million Stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 15.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,634 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 29,959 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.24% of National Fuel Gas worth $17,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199,787 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $146,502,000 after buying an additional 117,351 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,447,665 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $87,844,000 after purchasing an additional 70,332 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $67,393,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 22,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in 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 worth $61,837,000 after acquiring an additional 279,857 shares during the period. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NFG. Bank of America upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NYSE NFG traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $88.88. The company had a trading volume of 223,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 571,896. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.22. National Fuel Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $56.29 and a fifty-two week high of $89.82. The stock has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 206.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.62.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The company had revenue of $729.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.79 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.