National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Shares Newly Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,796 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,805,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NFG. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 458.0% in the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 170.2% in the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 516 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 1,032.8% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 725 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NFG shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NFG opened at $80.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.34. The company has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. National Fuel Gas Company has a twelve month low of $75.03 and a twelve month high of $97.06.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.10. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 26.97%. The company had revenue of $537.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $564.33 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.51 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.5550 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.83%.

National Fuel Gas Profile

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged in the exploration, production, gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of natural gas. Its operations span the natural gas value chain, with an emphasis on resources and infrastructure in the Appalachian Basin.

Through its exploration and production business, National Fuel develops natural gas reserves primarily in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. Its pipeline and storage operations transport and store natural gas for utilities, marketers and other customers, while its gathering systems connect production wells to larger transmission networks.

National Fuel also operates a regulated natural gas utility that distributes gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in portions of western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.