Picton Mahoney Asset Management Acquires 5,634 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 29,652.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,653 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,634 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management's holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199,787 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $146,502,000 after purchasing an additional 117,351 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 5.1% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 70,332 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter worth $67,393,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.1% in the 1st 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $61,837,000 after acquiring an additional 279,857 shares in the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NFG stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $86.66. 892,213 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 660,605. National Fuel Gas Company has a 12 month low of $56.29 and a 12 month high of $89.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 32.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $84.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.83.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $531.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a 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 payout ratio is 80.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.