Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $43.96 and last traded at $43.7810, with a volume of 23511 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.40.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Natural Gas Services Group from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

Insider Transactions at Natural Gas Services Group

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 70,000 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.58, for a total value of $2,630,600.00. Following the sale, the director owned 205,432 shares in the company, valued at $7,720,134.56. This trade represents a 25.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.12% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weber Capital Management LLC ADV acquired a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,777,000. Cannell Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 279.3% during the second quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 331,616 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,559,000 after purchasing an additional 244,193 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at $3,591,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 133.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 169,023 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,731,000 after purchasing an additional 96,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 425.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 105,842 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after purchasing an additional 85,682 shares in the last quarter. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Down 0.6%

The company has a current ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.53. The company has a market cap of $547.52 million, a PE ratio of 25.27 and a beta of 0.43.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $48.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.09 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 7.99%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 20th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 20th. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. Natural Gas Services Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.