National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.18 EPS

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.18, Zacks reports. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 26.46%. The company had revenue of $467.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:NFG traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.77. 1,127,554 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 812,702. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.20. National Fuel Gas has a 52-week low of $73.67 and a 52-week high of $97.06. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.29. The firm has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.36.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a $0.5550 dividend. This represents a $2.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged in the exploration, production, gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of natural gas. Its operations span the natural gas value chain, with an emphasis on resources and infrastructure in the Appalachian Basin.

Through its exploration and production business, National Fuel develops natural gas reserves primarily in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. Its pipeline and storage operations transport and store natural gas for utilities, marketers and other customers, while its gathering systems connect production wells to larger transmission networks.

National Fuel also operates a regulated natural gas utility that distributes gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in portions of western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.