National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) PT Raised to $81.00 at Scotiabank

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $80.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target points to a potential upside of 37.22% from the company’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

National Fuel Gas Price Performance

NFG stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.03. 8,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 546,002. National Fuel Gas has a 52 week low of $45.32 and a 52 week high of $59.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 0.62.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $417.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.62 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 16.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other National Fuel Gas news, General Counsel Michael W. Reville sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.83, for a total transaction of $348,554.31. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 9,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,981.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NFG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,313,064 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $715,178,000 after acquiring an additional 104,587 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in shares of National Fuel Gas by 2.4% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,595,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $139,427,000 after purchasing an additional 62,009 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of National Fuel Gas by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 2,533,482 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $137,289,000 after purchasing an additional 24,800 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 46.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,732,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $93,910,000 after purchasing an additional 550,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,320,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $70,956,000 after buying an additional 96,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.