Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 126,500 shares, a decrease of 17.6% from the October 15th total of 153,500 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 49,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 2,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.50, for a total value of $53,679.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 538,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,190,481.50. This represents a 0.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,158 shares of company stock valued at $303,350. 7.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Natural Gas Services Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 47.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 17,301 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 19.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 162,646 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 26,069 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC increased its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 64.3% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 16,784 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 6,567 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Natural Gas Services Group by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Natural Gas Services Group by 54.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,647 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 3,056 shares during the period. 65.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Natural Gas Services Group Price Performance

Natural Gas Services Group stock opened at $24.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $311.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.60. Natural Gas Services Group has a 52 week low of $12.75 and a 52 week high of $25.24.

Natural Gas Services Group (NYSE:NGS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 14th. The oil and gas company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $38.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.79 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a net margin of 10.55% and a return on equity of 6.67%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Natural Gas Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Natural Gas Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

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.