Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $26.32 and traded as high as $31.58. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $31.2380, with a volume of 58,545 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NGS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.32. The firm has a market cap of $392.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $43.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 7.21%. On average, analysts anticipate that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 20th. This is a boost from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is 29.73%.

Natural Gas Services Group announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, August 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Natural Gas Services Group

In other news, Director Jean K. Holley acquired 3,752 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.58 per share, for a total transaction of $99,728.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,324. The trade was a 92.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 11,457 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.95, for a total value of $320,223.15. Following the sale, the director directly owned 385,432 shares in the company, valued at $10,772,824.40. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,740,298. Insiders own 5.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 611,653 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,120,000 after acquiring an additional 7,345 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 509,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,156,000 after purchasing an additional 2,424 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 361,571 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,120,000 after purchasing an additional 8,784 shares during the period. Cannell Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 8.3% during the third quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 359,021 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,049,000 after purchasing an additional 27,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 299,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

About Natural Gas Services Group

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc provides natural gas compression equipment and services to the energy industry in the United States. It engineers and fabricates, operates, rents, and maintains natural gas compressors for oil and natural gas production and plant facilities. It also designs, fabricates, and assembles compressor units for rental or sale; and designs, manufactures, and sells a line of reciprocating natural gas compressor frames, cylinders, and parts.