National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on NFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America boosted their target price on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, reaching $84.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 428,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 559,144. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -600.74 and a beta of 0.62. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $80.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.93. National Fuel Gas has a 52 week low of $53.03 and a 52 week high of $84.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a positive return on equity of 15.96% and a negative net margin of 0.53%. The company had revenue of $729.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.79 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas's revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,584,155 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $156,807,000 after purchasing an additional 85,950 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199,787 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $146,502,000 after purchasing an additional 117,351 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 29.6% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,153,236 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $170,515,000 after purchasing an additional 491,890 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 3.3% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,495,867 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $118,458,000 after purchasing an additional 48,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 15.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,174,783 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $93,031,000 after purchasing an additional 155,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company's stock.

National Fuel Gas Company 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.