South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Stock Position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 30.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,266 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 24,336 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.06% of National Fuel Gas worth $4,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 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 worth $763,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter worth about $241,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 221,634 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $17,551,000 after purchasing an additional 29,959 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in National Fuel Gas by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 56,917 shares during the period. 73.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NFG. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, National Fuel Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NFG traded down $0.83 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.68. 110,897 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 571,310. National Fuel Gas Company has a twelve month low of $56.29 and a twelve month high of $89.82. The stock has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 203.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 2.44%. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. National Fuel Gas's payout ratio is currently 497.67%.

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.