Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. $NOG Shares Purchased by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) by 120.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Northern Oil and Gas were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NOG. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $25,492,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas during the third quarter worth about $11,295,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 499.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 421,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,056,000 after acquiring an additional 351,490 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 5.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,941,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,563,000 after acquiring an additional 235,869 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 568.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 272,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,732,000 after acquiring an additional 231,938 shares during the period. 98.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Northern Oil and Gas from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Northern Oil and Gas from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on Northern Oil and Gas from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Northern Oil and Gas from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.00.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

NYSE NOG opened at $23.45 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of -3.68 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.59. Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.18 and a 1-year high of $32.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.38 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a positive return on equity of 18.43% and a negative net margin of 33.17%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Oil and Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Northern Oil and Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -28.26%.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc is a publicly traded independent energy company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in the Williston Basin, where it secures acreage positions and partners with drilling operators to advance upstream projects. Through strategic leasehold acquisitions and joint ventures, Northern Oil and Gas seeks to expand its footprint in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Northern Oil and Gas employs horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to develop unconventional resource plays, particularly in the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River formations of North Dakota and Montana.