Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.29 Million Position in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 25,800 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,294,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,190,115 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $684,699,000 after purchasing an additional 311,599 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 19.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,868,815 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $200,830,000 after acquiring an additional 641,010 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 0.4% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,456,000 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $127,491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 1.9% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,202,352 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $62,414,000 after acquiring an additional 22,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 855,669 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $44,418,000 after buying an additional 33,903 shares in the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NFG stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $53.59. The company had a trading volume of 382,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 574,833. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.82. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.56. National Fuel Gas has a twelve month low of $45.32 and a twelve month high of $56.67.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $525.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $664.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 21.58% and a return on equity of 14.81%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.495 dividend. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NFG has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of National Fuel Gas from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th.

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.