National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) Stock Rating Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of National Fuel Gas in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.50.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of National Fuel Gas stock opened at $73.58 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.25. The company has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.36. National Fuel Gas has a 52 week low of $73.43 and a 52 week high of $97.06. The company has a quick ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $467.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.38 million. National Fuel Gas had a net margin of 26.97% and a return on equity of 19.04%. National Fuel Gas’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 7.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Fuel Gas

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NFG. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in National Fuel Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $710,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of National Fuel Gas during the second quarter worth about $7,983,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter valued at $2,629,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter worth about $58,343,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 75.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 91,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $6,962,000 after acquiring an additional 39,479 shares during the period. 73.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.