Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 4,294 Shares of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. $NGS

Calamos Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) by 34.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 4,294 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Natural Gas Services Group were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter worth $25,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $251,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 370.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 136,748 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,004,000 after buying an additional 107,679 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $497,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NGS. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jean K. Holley purchased 3,752 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.58 per share, for a total transaction of $99,728.16. Following the purchase, the director owned 7,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,324. This represents a 92.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 11,152 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.06, for a total transaction of $324,077.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 364,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,583,070.80. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 71,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,198 in the last ninety days. 7.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

NGS opened at $29.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.73 and a 12-month high of $30.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.57 and a 200-day moving average of $25.59. The stock has a market cap of $370.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.59.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.13. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 10.92%.The business had revenue of $43.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.25 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is 27.03%.

Natural Gas Services Group announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Natural Gas Services Group Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc provides natural gas compression equipment and services to the energy industry in the United States. It engineers and fabricates, operates, rents, and maintains natural gas compressors for oil and natural gas production and plant facilities. It also designs, fabricates, and assembles compressor units for rental or sale; and designs, manufactures, and sells a line of reciprocating natural gas compressor frames, cylinders, and parts.