Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases 23,830 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) by 29.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,150 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 23,830 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.12% of National Fuel Gas worth $8,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 6,618 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC now owns 15,598 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,288 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,045 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective 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 downgraded National Fuel Gas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE NFG opened at $86.58 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $84.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.03. National Fuel Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $56.29 and a fifty-two week high of $89.82. The company has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 201.35, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.62.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $729.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.79 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.535 per share. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 497.67%.

About National Fuel Gas

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.

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