Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Down 2.1 %

Natural Gas Services Group stock opened at $22.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $277.66 million, a PE ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 1.13. Natural Gas Services Group has a fifty-two week low of $16.70 and a fifty-two week high of $29.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.97.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 17th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $40.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 19,400 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.80, for a total value of $558,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 438,387 shares in the company, valued at $12,625,545.60. This trade represents a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Man Group plc raised its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 18,574 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at $241,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 266,508 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,142,000 after acquiring an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,048 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

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.