Northern Oil and Gas Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:NOG)

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 4,489 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 115% compared to the average volume of 2,086 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Oil and Gas

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,873,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,453,000 after acquiring an additional 141,499 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 5.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,941,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,563,000 after acquiring an additional 235,869 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 9.1% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,899,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,096,000 after purchasing an additional 158,713 shares in the last quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 15.7% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,702,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,214,000 after purchasing an additional 230,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northern Oil and Gas by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,450,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,138,000 after purchasing an additional 105,876 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $29.00 price target on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Northern Oil and Gas from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Northern Oil and Gas from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

Northern Oil and Gas stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.13. The stock had a trading volume of 371,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,481,540. Northern Oil and Gas has a 52-week low of $19.88 and a 52-week high of $32.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 91.12 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $610.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.98 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 19.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Northern Oil and Gas will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.0%. Northern Oil and Gas’s payout ratio is 545.45%.

Northern Oil and Gas Company Profile

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc is a publicly traded independent energy company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in the Williston Basin, where it secures acreage positions and partners with drilling operators to advance upstream projects. Through strategic leasehold acquisitions and joint ventures, Northern Oil and Gas seeks to expand its footprint in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Northern Oil and Gas employs horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to develop unconventional resource plays, particularly in the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River formations of North Dakota and Montana.