Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial lowered Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:NGS opened at $34.16 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.19. Natural Gas Services Group has a one year low of $16.73 and a one year high of $35.12. The firm has a market cap of $429.38 million, a P/E ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $43.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Equities analysts anticipate that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total transaction of $331,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 285,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,464,925.12. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jean K. Holley purchased 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,167.60. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,390 shares in the company, valued at $461,055.60. This trade represents a 17.95% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 51,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,604,077 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NGS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc (NYSE: NGS) is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.