Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Invests $1.46 Million in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 66,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 20.1% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 12,504 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095 shares in the last quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter valued at $272,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 4,293.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NGS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Natural Gas Services Group from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE NGS opened at $25.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.10. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a one year low of $16.70 and a one year high of $29.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.50 million, a PE ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 0.66.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $41.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.52 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 6.99%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.90, for a total value of $622,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 433,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,790,016.60. This trade represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Profile

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.