National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.18 EPS

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.18, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $467.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $472.38 million. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 26.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

NFG stock traded up $0.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.97. 1,051,204 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 812,702. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 3.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.29. National Fuel Gas has a 1-year low of $73.67 and a 1-year high of $97.06.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.5550 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.22 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 31.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NFG shares. Weiss Ratings raised National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Company Profile

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is a diversified energy company engaged in the exploration, production, gathering, transportation, storage and distribution of natural gas. Its operations span the natural gas value chain, with an emphasis on resources and infrastructure in the Appalachian Basin.

Through its exploration and production business, National Fuel develops natural gas reserves primarily in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania. Its pipeline and storage operations transport and store natural gas for utilities, marketers and other customers, while its gathering systems connect production wells to larger transmission networks.

National Fuel also operates a regulated natural gas utility that distributes gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in portions of western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.