National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• National Fuel Gas was upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting positive analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Analysts, including Scotiabank and Bank of America, have increased their price targets for National Fuel Gas, with estimates now ranging between $98.00 and $107.00.
• In its last earnings report, National Fuel Gas reported an EPS of $1.64, surpassing expectations, while revenue grew by 27.4% year-over-year despite falling short of analyst estimates.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on NFG. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $88.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.33.

National Fuel Gas Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NFG stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.22. 686,730 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 649,173. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.46. National Fuel Gas has a fifty-two week low of $56.29 and a fifty-two week high of $89.82. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $84.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.91.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $531.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $596.12 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. This is a boost from National Fuel Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. National Fuel Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Fuel Gas

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 3.0% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,285 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,766 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,183,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investment Services LLC grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 6,618 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company's stock.

About National Fuel Gas

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.