Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Natural Gas Services Group presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $35.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NGS stock opened at $29.49 on Wednesday. Natural Gas Services Group has a twelve month low of $16.73 and a twelve month high of $30.73. The company has a market capitalization of $369.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $43.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.92% and a return on equity of 7.21%. Research analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Natural Gas Services Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, August 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the oil and gas company to buy up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 11,152 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.06, for a total transaction of $324,077.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 364,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,583,070.80. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jean K. Holley purchased 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.58 per share, with a total value of $99,728.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,252 shares of company stock valued at $1,962,198. Insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NGS. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,100 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 116.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,427 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the 1st quarter valued at $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.