Natural Gas Services Group’s (NGS) “Strong-Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Raymond James in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $33.00. Raymond James’ target price points to a potential upside of 45.62% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

NGS traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,191. Natural Gas Services Group has a twelve month low of $16.70 and a twelve month high of $29.74. The stock has a market cap of $274.47 million, a P/E ratio of 17.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 6.60% and a net margin of 10.55%. The company had revenue of $40.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. Research analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 19,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.80, for a total transaction of $558,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 438,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,625,545.60. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NGS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,040 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 18,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 18,574 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 18,716 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,102 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

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.