Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.05 EPS

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) released its earnings results on Monday. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05), FiscalAI reports. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company had revenue of $46.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.81 million.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Up 3.1%

Natural Gas Services Group stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $36.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 99,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,547. Natural Gas Services Group has a fifty-two week low of $16.73 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $461.17 million, a P/E ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.66.

Natural Gas Services Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is 29.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.58, for a total transaction of $2,630,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 205,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,720,134.56. This represents a 25.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,602 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 437.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,965 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 4,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mangrove Partners IM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NGS shares. Raymond James Financial lowered Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

About Natural Gas Services Group

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.