Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Director Jean Holley Acquires 935 Shares

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) Director Jean Holley acquired 935 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $29,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 12,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $390,400. The trade was a 8.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Up 2.2%

NGS stock traded up $0.69 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.49. 55,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 71,964. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.35 million, a PE ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.37. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.73 and a 1 year high of $33.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $28.77 and a 200-day moving average of $26.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.13. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 11.20%.The business had revenue of $43.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.25 million. Analysts predict that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the oil and gas company to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Natural Gas Services Group has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 116.0% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,427 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the first quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the second quarter worth about $210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

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.