Insider Buying: Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Director Purchases 2,190 Shares of Stock

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) Director Jean Holley bought 2,190 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,167.60. Following the acquisition, the director owned 14,390 shares in the company, valued at $461,055.60. The trade was a 17.95% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE:NGS opened at $32.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.73 and a 12-month high of $33.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.44 million, a P/E ratio of 22.35 and a beta of 0.37.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.13. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company had revenue of $43.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.25 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Natural Gas Services Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a boost from Natural Gas Services Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. Natural Gas Services Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.73%.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 103.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 75,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 38,341 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the 1st quarter worth $497,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 163,473 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,591,000 after buying an additional 24,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $819,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NGS. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Natural Gas Services Group from $33.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. 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 equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

About Natural Gas Services Group

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.