TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,600 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $523,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 0.3% in the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 214,805 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $17,010,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Longbow Finance SA bought a new position in National Fuel Gas in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,601,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 9,475.0% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 383 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 13.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,361 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,137,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth $247,000. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
National Fuel Gas Stock Performance
Shares of National Fuel Gas stock opened at $87.22 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. 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 $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The company's fifty day moving average is $84.80 and its 200 day moving average is $79.04.
National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 11.15% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $596.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas's revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.
National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas's payout ratio is currently 80.45%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of National Fuel Gas from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $95.33.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on NFG
About National Fuel Gas
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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