Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $1.53 Million Holdings in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) by 2.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $1,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in National Fuel Gas in the first quarter valued at about $1,748,000. Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 27.7% in the first quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,242,186 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $66,730,000 after purchasing an additional 269,441 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 478.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 86,567 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,650,000 after acquiring an additional 71,612 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 12.6% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 130,375 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 0.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Michael W. Reville sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.77, for a total value of $103,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 8,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $498,496.31. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on NFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on National Fuel Gas from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com downgraded National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 19th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on National Fuel Gas from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on National Fuel Gas in a research note on Monday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $62.00 target price for the company.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

National Fuel Gas stock opened at $60.53 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.45 and a 200-day moving average of $57.58. National Fuel Gas has a 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $63.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.62.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.03. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $417.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.62 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

National Fuel Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.71%.

National Fuel Gas Profile

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.