Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys New Position in National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 132,640 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $10,241,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,983,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 61,728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after buying an additional 28,293 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth $63,863,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 9.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 212,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $19,928,000 after buying an additional 17,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $2,966,000. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on NFG shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

National Fuel Gas stock opened at $83.61 on Thursday. National Fuel Gas Company has a 52 week low of $75.17 and a 52 week high of $97.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $80.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.52. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.37.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $537.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.33 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 26.97%.National Fuel Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.555 dividend. This is an increase from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is presently 30.83%.

National Fuel Gas 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.