National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on NFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.33.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NFG opened at $84.11 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.13 and its 200-day moving average is $73.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -600.74 and a beta of 0.62. National Fuel Gas has a fifty-two week low of $53.03 and a fifty-two week high of $84.60.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.21. National Fuel Gas had a negative net margin of 0.53% and a positive return on equity of 15.96%. The firm had revenue of $729.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,393,000. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,153,236 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $170,515,000 after buying an additional 491,890 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in National Fuel Gas by 93.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 951,069 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $75,315,000 after buying an additional 460,100 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 98.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 715,645 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $56,672,000 after acquiring an additional 355,800 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,019,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $61,837,000 after purchasing an additional 279,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

About National Fuel Gas

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.