Stifel Nicolaus Raises Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Price Target to $47.00

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $44.00 to $47.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the oil and gas company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 12.49% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on NGS. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NGS traded down $0.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.78. 13,892 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 118,987. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $526.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.00. Natural Gas Services Group has a 52-week low of $22.72 and a 52-week high of $43.27.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $48.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.09 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 12.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Natural Gas Services Group

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 30,000 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.23, for a total value of $1,116,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 175,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,531,333.36. The trade was a 14.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings 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 worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $114,000. 65.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

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.