Hancock Whitney Corp Purchases 4,130 Shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG)

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,060 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,130 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in National Fuel Gas were worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NFG. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 38.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,757 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 5,484 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in National Fuel Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Kendall Capital Management increased its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 3.2% during the second quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 13,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in National Fuel Gas by 14.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,281 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 1,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in National Fuel Gas by 125.4% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,588 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 6,447 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target on National Fuel Gas from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of National Fuel Gas from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of National Fuel Gas from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

National Fuel Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NFG opened at $60.30 on Monday. National Fuel Gas has a 12 month low of $45.32 and a 12 month high of $61.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.62.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.03. National Fuel Gas had a return on equity of 14.80% and a net margin of 16.42%. The company had revenue of $417.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that National Fuel Gas will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Fuel Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. National Fuel Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.87%.

National Fuel Gas Profile

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.