Sciencast Management LP Acquires Shares of 22,899 Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG)

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 177.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 74.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NOG shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Northern Oil and Gas from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Capital One Financial cut Northern Oil and Gas from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Northern Oil and Gas from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $43.00 price objective on Northern Oil and Gas in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Northern Oil and Gas from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Oil and Gas has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.89.

Insider Activity

In other Northern Oil and Gas news, CEO Nicholas L. O’grady purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.48 per share, with a total value of $27,480.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 226,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,215,673.72. This trade represents a 0.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Adam A. Dirlam sold 836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $32,604.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 96,223 shares in the company, valued at $3,752,697. This trade represents a 0.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

NOG stock opened at $30.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 1.84. Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.60 and a 1 year high of $44.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.99.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $545.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $552.34 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a net margin of 23.38% and a return on equity of 24.41%. On average, research analysts predict that Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. This is a positive change from Northern Oil and Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Northern Oil and Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.02%.

Northern Oil and Gas declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, March 11th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Northern Oil and Gas Profile

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States.