Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

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

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

Natural Gas Services Group Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NGS opened at $22.20 on Wednesday. Natural Gas Services Group has a one year low of $16.70 and a one year high of $29.74. 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 P/E ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 1.13. The stock 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 released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $40.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.84 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 6.60% and a net margin of 10.55%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal 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 stock was 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. The trade was a 4.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Natural Gas Services Group during the 4th quarter worth about $5,733,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 229,294 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,145,000 after buying an additional 124,978 shares during the last quarter. Crown Advisors Management Inc. bought a new position in Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter worth $2,680,000. EAM Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,089,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,001,000. 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.