Short Interest in Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) Grows By 21.1%

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,050,000 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the February 28th total of 16,550,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 11.9 days. Currently, 20.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northern Oil and Gas

In other news, President Adam A. Dirlam sold 836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.00, for a total value of $32,604.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 96,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,752,697. This represents a 0.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bahram Akradi bought 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $28.03 per share, for a total transaction of $1,121,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,662,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,586,308.48. The trade was a 2.47 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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 worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Northern Oil and Gas in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.80% of the company’s stock.

Northern Oil and Gas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NOG opened at $30.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 0.92. Northern Oil and Gas has a one year low of $26.60 and a one year high of $44.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.75.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $545.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $552.34 million. Northern Oil and Gas had a return on equity of 24.41% and a net margin of 23.38%. Analysts forecast that Northern Oil and Gas will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northern Oil and Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.86%. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is presently 35.02%.

Northern Oil and Gas declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, March 11th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NOG shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on Northern Oil and Gas from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Northern Oil and Gas from $43.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Mizuho lowered shares of Northern Oil and Gas from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Capital One Financial cut shares of Northern Oil and Gas from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northern Oil and Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.44.

About Northern Oil and Gas

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.