Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Get Rating) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 25,424 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 773 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $1,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFG. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.4% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 47,532 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 21.4% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,015 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 24,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,211 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 0.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 80,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,949,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.25% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NFG opened at $50.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.72 and its 200 day moving average is $58.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.59. National Fuel Gas has a fifty-two week low of $50.25 and a fifty-two week high of $75.97.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.01). National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 23.69% and a net margin of 24.93%. The business had revenue of $717.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $697.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NFG shares. Raymond James cut National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of National Fuel Gas from $60.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on shares of National Fuel Gas from $76.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

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.