QRG Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in National Fuel Gas Company $NFG

QRG Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) by 66.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,742 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,964,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in National Fuel Gas by 642.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 465,830 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,460,000 after acquiring an additional 403,107 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $27,050,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 17.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,051,086 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $89,038,000 after acquiring an additional 157,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of National Fuel Gas by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,035,345 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $343,962,000 after acquiring an additional 132,855 shares during the last quarter. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on NFG shares. Scotiabank set a $101.00 target price on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.33.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

NFG stock opened at $81.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. National Fuel Gas Company has a 12-month low of $67.11 and a 12-month high of $94.13.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.14. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 21.76% and a net margin of 22.86%.The company had revenue of $466.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. National Fuel Gas’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that National Fuel Gas Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.535 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. National Fuel Gas’s payout ratio is 37.68%.

National Fuel Gas Profile

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged primarily in the production, gathering, transmission, distribution and marketing of natural gas. The company operates through four principal segments: Exploration & Production, Pipeline & Storage, Utilities, and Energy Marketing. Its integrated asset base spans upstream development in the Appalachian Basin, regional pipeline networks, underground storage facilities, and regulated utility distribution systems.

In its Exploration & Production segment, National Fuel Gas focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Marcellus and Utica shales, leveraging modern drilling and completion techniques.