Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 14,901 National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 14,901 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter worth $7,983,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 84.6% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 61,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after buying an additional 28,293 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 212,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $19,928,000 after buying an additional 17,713 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $63,863,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE NFG opened at $82.47 on Friday. National Fuel Gas Company has a 52-week low of $75.17 and a 52-week high of $97.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.54. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.37.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $537.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.33 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 26.97% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.555 per share. This is a boost from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NFG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged primarily in the production, gathering, transmission, distribution and marketing of natural gas. The company operates through four principal segments: Exploration & Production, Pipeline & Storage, Utilities, and Energy Marketing. Its integrated asset base spans upstream development in the Appalachian Basin, regional pipeline networks, underground storage facilities, and regulated utility distribution systems.

In its Exploration & Production segment, National Fuel Gas focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Marcellus and Utica shales, leveraging modern drilling and completion techniques.