National Fuel Gas (NFG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.52 on April 15th

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 13th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.515 per share by the oil and gas producer on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

National Fuel Gas has raised its dividend by an average of 4.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 55 years. National Fuel Gas has a payout ratio of 25.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect National Fuel Gas to earn $7.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.06 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.4%.

National Fuel Gas Trading Up 0.2 %

NFG opened at $78.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -562.85 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.63. National Fuel Gas has a 52 week low of $51.46 and a 52 week high of $79.49.

National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.22. National Fuel Gas had a positive return on equity of 15.96% and a negative net margin of 0.53%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that National Fuel Gas will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on NFG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of National Fuel Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on National Fuel Gas from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.67.

About National Fuel Gas

National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields.