Phocas Financial Corp. Takes $1.47 Million Position in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. $NGS

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. established a new Q4 position in Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) of 43,688 shares valued at about $1.47 million, roughly 0.35% of the company.
• Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 70,000 shares on March 5 for about $2.63 million, reducing his holding by ~25.4%; insiders now own 5.08% of the stock.
• NGS reported Q4 EPS of $0.32 (missing the $0.37 consensus) while revenue beat at $46.15M, and the firm pays a $0.11 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.44, ~1.1% yield).

Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 43,688 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $1,470,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned approximately 0.35% of Natural Gas Services Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at $106,000. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $243,000. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:NGS opened at $38.70 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $37.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $487.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.63 and a 1-year high of $40.73.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.05). Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $46.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.81 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Natural Gas Services Group's payout ratio is presently 28.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.58, for a total value of $2,630,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 205,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,720,134.56. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NGS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Natural Gas Services Group from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.00.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc NYSE: NGS is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.

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