National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Shares Purchased by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,091 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,026 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NFG. State Street Corp increased its position in National Fuel Gas by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,298,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $504,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,192 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,771,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $724,553,000 after purchasing an additional 892,065 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,631,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 2,307.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 727,659 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $37,773,000 after purchasing an additional 697,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,868,815 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $200,830,000 after purchasing an additional 641,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NFG shares. StockNews.com raised National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NFG opened at $53.45 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.47. National Fuel Gas has a 12 month low of $45.32 and a 12 month high of $56.67.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $525.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $664.57 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 21.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that National Fuel Gas will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.495 per share. This represents a $1.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.51%.

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.