National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 9.1% in the first quarter, buying 17,713 additional shares and bringing its total to 212,091 shares worth about $19.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 73.96% of the company’s stock. Several firms, including State Street, AQR Capital Management, and Price T Rowe, also boosted their positions.
• National Fuel Gas reported Q4 earnings of $2.71 per share, slightly below analyst expectations, but raised its quarterly dividend to $0.555 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 2.7%.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,091 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 17,713 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.22% of National Fuel Gas worth $19,928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 3.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,035,345 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $343,962,000 after buying an additional 132,855 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 103.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,138,153 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $197,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,067 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,816,217 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $145,446,000 after acquiring an additional 121,099 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 653.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,582,782 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $126,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372,742 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,445,601 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $115,735,000 after purchasing an additional 37,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 0.4%

National Fuel Gas stock opened at $80.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.43. National Fuel Gas Company has a twelve month low of $75.17 and a twelve month high of $97.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.85 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $858.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $856.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 27.48% and a return on equity of 20.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.555 dividend. This is a positive change from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. National Fuel Gas's payout ratio is 30.04%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company NYSE: NFG is a diversified energy company engaged primarily in the production, gathering, transmission, distribution and marketing of natural gas. The company operates through four principal segments: Exploration & Production, Pipeline & Storage, Utilities, and Energy Marketing. Its integrated asset base spans upstream development in the Appalachian Basin, regional pipeline networks, underground storage facilities, and regulated utility distribution systems.

In its Exploration & Production segment, National Fuel Gas focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Marcellus and Utica shales, leveraging modern drilling and completion techniques.

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