Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) Short Interest Down 25.9% in March

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 117,900 shares, a decrease of 25.9% from the February 28th total of 159,100 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 81,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NGS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 19,400 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.80, for a total transaction of $558,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 438,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,625,545.60. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NGS. Man Group plc grew its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 18,574 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter worth $241,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 266,508 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,142,000 after purchasing an additional 3,797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,048 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,092 shares during the last quarter. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Natural Gas Services Group Price Performance

NGS traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.01. 40,570 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 75,811. The company has a market cap of $275.28 million, a P/E ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.76. Natural Gas Services Group has a 12-month low of $16.70 and a 12-month high of $29.74. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.09.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 6.60%. The company had revenue of $40.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

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.