Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• 52-week high: Natural Gas Services Group hit a new 52-week high of $40.89 (last $40.395) with a market cap of $514.1M and technical support from its 50-day/200-day SMAs of $38.24 and $34.22 respectively.
• Mixed analyst sentiment: The consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $43.00 (Stifel raised its target to $44 and rated the stock a buy, while Zacks cut it to a "strong sell").
• Financials & corporate activity: Q1 EPS missed at $0.32 versus $0.37 consensus while revenue beat; the company pays a $0.11 quarterly dividend (1.1% yield) and a director sold 30,000 shares, with insiders owning 7.25% and institutions 65.62%.

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.89 and last traded at $40.3950, with a volume of 20399 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on NGS shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.00.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $38.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.22. The stock has a market cap of $514.11 million, a P/E ratio of 25.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.56% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $46.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.81 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Natural Gas Services Group's payout ratio is currently 28.03%.

Insider Activity at Natural Gas Services Group

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total value of $1,116,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 175,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,531,333.36. The trade was a 14.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter worth $106,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $114,000. Institutional investors own 65.62% of the company's stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc NYSE: NGS is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.

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