Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Natural Gas Services Group has passed above its 200-day moving average, trading as high as $39.46 and last at about $38.99 versus the 200-day average of $33.37.
• Analysts hold a consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $43 (three Buy ratings, one Sell) and several firms recently raised price targets.
• The company missed quarterly EPS ($0.32 vs. $0.37) but beat revenue estimates, pays a $0.11 quarterly dividend (~1.1% yield), and a director sold 70,000 shares, reducing his stake by about 25%.

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $33.37 and traded as high as $39.46. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $38.9890, with a volume of 81,736 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note 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 boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.00.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $37.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.37. The firm has a market cap of $490.79 million, a PE ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.33.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $46.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.81 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. 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 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.58, for a total transaction of $2,630,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 205,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,720,134.56. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 5.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NGS. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,470,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 103.8% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 75,284 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 38,341 shares during the period. Acuitas Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Acuitas Investments LLC now owns 216,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,065,000 after acquiring an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Cannell Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 359,021 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $10,049,000 after acquiring an additional 27,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,000. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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