National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its holdings in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,266 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 24,336 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.06% of National Fuel Gas worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 9,637 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth $241,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 15.6% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 221,634 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $17,551,000 after acquiring an additional 29,959 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 106,859 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $8,462,000 after acquiring an additional 56,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NFG traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $88.96. 300,494 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,584. National Fuel Gas Company has a 52 week low of $56.29 and a 52 week high of $89.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $83.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.22. The company has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 206.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.62.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $729.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.81 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 1.91% and a return on equity of 18.55%. The business's revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.535 dividend. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas's payout ratio is currently 497.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on NFG. Bank of America upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, National Fuel Gas presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.