Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.56.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NOG. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Northern Oil and Gas from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bahram Akradi bought 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.03 per share, for a total transaction of $1,121,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,662,016 shares in the company, valued at $46,586,308.48. This represents a 2.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Nicholas L. O’grady bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.48 per share, for a total transaction of $27,480.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 226,189 shares in the company, valued at $6,215,673.72. This represents a 0.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of NOG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,273,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,916,000 after buying an additional 166,501 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 6.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,953,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,201,000 after buying an additional 415,781 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 30.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,298,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,939,000 after buying an additional 1,001,493 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 2,114,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,590,000 after buying an additional 18,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 8.7% during the first quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,920,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,049,000 after buying an additional 153,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.80% of the company’s stock.

Northern Oil and Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOG opened at $28.43 on Monday. Northern Oil and Gas has a twelve month low of $19.88 and a twelve month high of $44.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.36 and a 200 day moving average of $33.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.21. Northern Oil and Gas had a net margin of 23.38% and a return on equity of 24.41%. The company had revenue of $602.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $568.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 51.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Northern Oil and Gas will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Oil and Gas announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 11th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Northern Oil and Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Northern Oil and Gas’s payout ratio is 28.04%.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States.