Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Performance

NYSE:NGS opened at $24.55 on Tuesday. Natural Gas Services Group has a twelve month low of $12.75 and a twelve month high of $25.24. The company has a market cap of $306.14 million, a P/E ratio of 23.16 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.60.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $38.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Natural Gas Services Group news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 3,181 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.00, for a total value of $69,982.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 548,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,064,514. The trade was a 0.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 13,158 shares of company stock valued at $303,350 over the last 90 days. 7.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 129.1% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 54.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,647 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 3,056 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Natural Gas Services Group by 2,513.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 12,072 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 11,610 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group during the third quarter worth about $261,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.