Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Reduces Stock Position in National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 30.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,209 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 31,941 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.08% of National Fuel Gas worth $6,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 91.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 27,462 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 13,101 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 3.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 32,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,789,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas by 7.2% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 23,214 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 1.6% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 33,764 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,860,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in National Fuel Gas by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,693,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $143,531,000 after acquiring an additional 4,995 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock opened at $80.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.39. National Fuel Gas Company has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $94.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.57.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 11.15%.The firm had revenue of $456.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $534.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 37.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NFG shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Scotiabank downgraded National Fuel Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $102.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research cut National Fuel Gas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, National Fuel Gas has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.00.

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.