Barnett & Company Inc. Sells 7,300 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Key Points

• Barnett & Company Inc. reduced its stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) by 14.1% in Q1, now holding 44,642 shares valued at approximately $3.54 million.
• National Fuel Gas announced a dividend increase to $0.535 per share, yielding 2.4%, with a payout ratio of 80.45%.
• Despite a quarterly revenue of $531.83 million that fell short of expectations, the company reported $1.64 earnings per share, exceeding the consensus estimate.

Barnett & Company Inc. lowered its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,642 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 7,300 shares during the quarter. National Fuel Gas makes up about 3.0% of Barnett & Company Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Barnett & Company Inc.'s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $3,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management grew its position 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 worth $170,515,000 after acquiring an additional 491,890 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 93.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 951,069 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $75,315,000 after buying an additional 460,100 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 98.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 715,645 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $56,672,000 after buying an additional 355,800 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 37.9% during 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 buying an additional 279,857 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth $20,892,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:NFG traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.68. The company had a trading volume of 481,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,148. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.96, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $85.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.73. National Fuel Gas Company has a 12-month low of $58.30 and a 12-month high of $89.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%. The company had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $596.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas's quarterly revenue was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.535 dividend. This is a boost from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas's payout ratio is 80.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on NFG shares. Scotiabank raised their price target on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America upgraded National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate 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.