Zacks Research Downgrades Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) to Hold

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

NGS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Down 0.8%

NGS stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $33.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 37,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 127,306. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Natural Gas Services Group has a twelve month low of $16.73 and a twelve month high of $35.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $426.25 million, a P/E ratio of 22.91 and a beta of 0.42.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $43.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natural Gas Services Group

In related news, Director Jean K. Holley bought 2,190 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.04 per share, with a total value of $70,167.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,055.60. This represents a 17.95% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.12, for a total transaction of $642,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 295,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,489,275.84. This trade represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,252 shares of company stock worth $1,604,077. Corporate insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NGS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 611,653 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $17,120,000 after purchasing an additional 7,345 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 509,714 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $13,156,000 after buying an additional 2,424 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 2.5% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 361,571 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,120,000 after acquiring an additional 8,784 shares during the period. Cannell Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 8.3% in the third quarter. Cannell Capital LLC now owns 359,021 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $10,049,000 after acquiring an additional 27,405 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 5.5% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 299,239 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc (NYSE: NGS) is an energy infrastructure company specializing in natural gas distribution and compression services across the United States. The company operates two primary lines of business: the Distribution segment provides natural gas delivery to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while the Compression Services segment rents, sells and services a diversified fleet of compression equipment for midstream and industrial applications.

In its Distribution segment, Natural Gas Services Group engineers, constructs and maintains local pipeline networks, meters and related apparatus to ensure safe and reliable natural gas supply to municipal utilities and private customers.