National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Stock Position Cut by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 27.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,848 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,418 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $3,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NFG. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $59,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,104,852 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,493,000 after acquiring an additional 22,320 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 1st quarter valued at about $289,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $12,786,000 after acquiring an additional 31,300 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Scotiabank lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $106.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of National Fuel Gas from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.00.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NFG opened at $79.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.58. National Fuel Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.82 and a fifty-two week high of $94.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $86.44 and its 200-day moving average is $84.74.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.535 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.45%.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.