National Fuel Gas Co. (NYSE:NFG) – Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group dropped their FY2020 earnings per share estimates for National Fuel Gas in a research note issued on Wednesday, July 17th, according to Zacks Investment Research. Jefferies Financial Group analyst C. Sighinolfi now expects that the oil and gas producer will post earnings of $3.15 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $3.56.
Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. ValuEngine cut National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. TheStreet cut National Fuel Gas from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research cut National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $51.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.
Shares of NYSE NFG opened at $47.86 on Monday. National Fuel Gas has a fifty-two week low of $45.79 and a fifty-two week high of $61.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.13.
National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $357.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.88 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 17.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.435 per share. This is a boost from National Fuel Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 27th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.10%.
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 25.8% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 318,809 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $16,818,000 after acquiring an additional 65,447 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the second quarter worth approximately $247,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas in the second quarter worth approximately $1,725,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 6.5% in the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 105,637 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,572,000 after acquiring an additional 6,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 238.1% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,961 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,845,000 after acquiring an additional 24,620 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.42% of the company’s stock.
About National Fuel Gas
National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through five segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, Utility, and Energy Marketing. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil in California and in the Appalachian region of the United States.