7,454 Shares in National Fuel Gas Company $NFG Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC purchased a new stake in National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,454 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $576,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 458.0% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of National Fuel Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

National Fuel Gas Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:NFG opened at $82.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.20. National Fuel Gas Company has a 1-year low of $75.17 and a 1-year high of $97.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.37.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.10. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 26.97% and a return on equity of 19.04%. The business had revenue of $537.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $564.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that National Fuel Gas Company will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on NFG. Weiss Ratings cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.50.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is a diversified energy company with operations spanning natural gas exploration and production, pipeline transportation and storage, and utility distribution. Through its subsidiaries, the company develops, produces, gathers, stores and transports natural gas, primarily serving markets in the northeastern United States.

National Fuel’s exploration and production business is operated through Seneca Resources Company, which focuses on developing natural gas reserves in the Appalachian region, including the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.