Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $464,000 Stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 57.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,860 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 7,764 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in NFG. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 117,351 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 5.1% during 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,393,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 22,320 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 valued at $61,837,000 after acquiring an additional 279,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $86.66. 892,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 660,605. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.74. The firm 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 current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. National Fuel Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $56.29 and a fifty-two week high of $89.82.

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

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid 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 2.5%. This is a positive change from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on NFG shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Company 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.