Short Interest in Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) Drops By 18.6%

Natural Gas Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:NGS) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 158,000 shares, a drop of 18.6% from the September 15th total of 194,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 56,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NGS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on Natural Gas Services Group in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Natural Gas Services Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th.

Natural Gas Services Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Natural Gas Services Group stock opened at $20.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $256.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09 and a beta of 1.03. Natural Gas Services Group has a 1-year low of $12.75 and a 1-year high of $25.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.88.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $38.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.79 million. Natural Gas Services Group had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 9.25%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Natural Gas Services Group will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen Charles Taylor sold 4,690 shares of Natural Gas Services Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.14, for a total value of $103,836.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 551,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,211,715.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Natural Gas Services Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 921,915 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $18,548,000 after acquiring an additional 18,001 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 491,167 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,543,000 after acquiring an additional 6,129 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 399,342 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $8,035,000 after acquiring an additional 19,543 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 172,221 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,346,000 after acquiring an additional 42,099 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Natural Gas Services Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 127,330 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.62% of the company’s stock.

Natural Gas Services Group Company Profile

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.