Scotiabank Raises National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Price Target to $75.00

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the oil and gas producer's stock. Scotiabank's price objective suggests a potential upside of 32.86% from the stock's current price.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

NFG stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $56.45. 344,219 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,421. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.93. National Fuel Gas has a 52 week low of $45.32 and a 52 week high of $56.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.63.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.38. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 23.84%. The company had revenue of $629.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $767.33 million. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Fuel Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,190,115 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $684,699,000 after buying an additional 311,599 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,868,815 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $200,830,000 after purchasing an additional 641,010 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,456,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $127,491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,242,186 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $66,730,000 after purchasing an additional 269,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,224,440 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $61,430,000 after purchasing an additional 22,088 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.