Key Points
- Director Jean Holley bought 2,190 shares on December 8 at an average price of $32.04, increasing her stake to 14,390 shares (a 17.95% rise) as disclosed in an SEC filing.
- The company beat quarterly expectations with EPS $0.46 vs $0.33 consensus and $43.4M in revenue, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.11 (annualized $0.44, ~1.3% yield).
- Analyst sentiment is bullish with a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a $35.50 target, while Stifel raised its target to $39 and Zacks upgraded to a strong-buy.
Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) Director Jean Holley acquired 2,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.04 per share, with a total value of $70,167.60. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 14,390 shares in the company, valued at $461,055.60. This represents a 17.95% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.
Natural Gas Services Group Trading Up 0.1%
NYSE:NGS traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $33.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 72,733. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $420.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.80. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.73 and a 1 year high of $33.82.
Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Research analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. This is an increase from Natural Gas Services Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Natural Gas Services Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.73%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 105.5% in the 2nd quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 106.7% during 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 boosted 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 during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the first quarter worth approximately $115,000. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NGS. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Strong Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.50.
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About Natural Gas Services Group
(
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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.
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