M&T Bank Corp Buys 6,768 Shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Get Rating) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 122,549 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,768 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.13% of National Fuel Gas worth $7,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 18.7% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 31,207 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after purchasing an additional 4,915 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 60.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,471 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the third quarter valued at $3,807,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 87.6% in the third quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 60,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 28,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the third quarter valued at $54,000. 72.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE NFG opened at $54.91 on Thursday. National Fuel Gas has a 1 year low of $54.06 and a 1 year high of $75.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.19. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 26.25% and a return on equity of 27.11%. The business had revenue of $658.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $600.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.05%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

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National Fuel Gas Co is a holding company, which engages in the production, gathering, transportation, storage, and distribution of natural gas. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment seeks to discover and produce raw materials.