Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $31.96 Million Stake in Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. $KGS

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group increased its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 4.6% in Q1, ending with 548,019 shares valued at about $31.96 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted holdings, and 24.95% of KGS is now owned by hedge funds and institutions.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a target price of $79.50, while Kodiak’s latest earnings beat estimates and its quarterly dividend was $0.49 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. (NYSE:KGS - Free Report) by 4.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 548,019 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,286 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.64% of Kodiak Gas Services worth $31,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,170,360 shares of the company's stock worth $230,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559,172 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Kodiak Gas Services by 29.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,305,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,125,000 after buying an additional 1,436,443 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 3,046.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,471,663 shares of the company's stock worth $55,040,000 after buying an additional 1,424,888 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 45.7% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,271,553 shares of the company's stock worth $159,756,000 after buying an additional 1,339,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kodiak Gas Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,741,000. 24.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KGS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $63.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $64.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Kodiak Gas Services in a report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Kodiak Gas Services from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $69.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.50.

Kodiak Gas Services Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE KGS opened at $65.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.89. Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.06 and a 52 week high of $77.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38.

Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.05. Kodiak Gas Services had a return on equity of 13.12% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company had revenue of $345.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $340.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. Kodiak Gas Services's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kodiak Gas Services, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kodiak Gas Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Kodiak Gas Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 264.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kodiak Gas Services

In other news, COO William Chad Lenamon sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.79, for a total transaction of $67,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 87,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,917,660.26. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Cory Anne Roclawski sold 4,169 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.36, for a total transaction of $284,992.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,685,894.32. The trade was a 14.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,523 shares of company stock worth $921,319. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Kodiak Gas Services Profile

Kodiak Gas Services, Inc operates contract compression infrastructure for customers in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It operates in two segments, Compression Operations and Other Services. The Compression Operations segment operates company-owned and customer-owned compression infrastructure to enable the production, gathering, and transportation of natural gas and oil. The Other Services segment provides a range of contract services, including station construction, maintenance and overhaul, and other ancillary time and material-based offerings.

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