Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05), FiscalAI reports. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 11.20%.The firm had revenue of $46.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.81 million.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

Shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock opened at $36.69 on Tuesday. Natural Gas Services Group has a 52 week low of $16.73 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.73. The company has a market cap of $461.17 million, a PE ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 0.34.

Natural Gas Services Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is 29.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on NGS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Natural Gas Services Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Insider Transactions at Natural Gas Services Group

In related news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.58, for a total transaction of $2,630,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 205,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,720,134.56. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NGS. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 6,818 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,165 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 34,828 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc (NYSE: NGS) is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.