Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?
by Kim Johansen · The Markets DailyNatural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS – Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $29.35 and traded as high as $36.73. Natural Gas Services Group shares last traded at $36.3950, with a volume of 265,338 shares changing hands.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have commented on NGS. Zacks Research downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on NGS
Natural Gas Services Group Stock Up 4.7%
The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $457.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.39.
Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $43.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.25 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. Equities analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.73%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Jean K. Holley acquired 2,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.04 per share, with a total value of $70,167.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,055.60. The trade was a 17.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.12, for a total value of $642,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 295,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,489,275.84. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,000 shares of company stock worth $1,277,100. 5.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 10,099 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Weber Capital Management LLC ADV bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter worth about $16,777,000. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $698,000. Crown Advisors Management Inc. grew its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Crown Advisors Management Inc. now owns 80,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,470,000. 65.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Natural Gas Services Group
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.