State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 50,260 Shares of National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 32.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 50,260 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue owned 0.12% of National Fuel Gas worth $9,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $91,964,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 642.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 465,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,460,000 after buying an additional 403,107 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,050,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 17.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,051,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $89,038,000 after acquiring an additional 157,220 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,035,345 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $343,962,000 after acquiring an additional 132,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NFG stock opened at $78.34 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.49. National Fuel Gas Company has a 1-year low of $62.03 and a 1-year high of $94.13. The company has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $466.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 22.86%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is currently 37.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NFG. Scotiabank downgraded National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

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.