Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) Price Target to $30.00

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) had its price objective trimmed by Royal Bank Of Canada from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Northern Oil and Gas from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.57.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NOG stock opened at $23.36 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.07. Northern Oil and Gas has a 52 week low of $19.88 and a 52 week high of $40.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.98.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.21. Northern Oil and Gas had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.61%. The company had revenue of $556.64 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $528.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northern Oil and Gas will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 30th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. Northern Oil and Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOG. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Northern Oil and Gas by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 40,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 14,492 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 3.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 58,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 181.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after buying an additional 3,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 46,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 13,690 shares during the period. 98.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc is a publicly traded independent energy company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. The company’s primary operations are concentrated in the Williston Basin, where it secures acreage positions and partners with drilling operators to advance upstream projects. Through strategic leasehold acquisitions and joint ventures, Northern Oil and Gas seeks to expand its footprint in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

Northern Oil and Gas employs horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies to develop unconventional resource plays, particularly in the Bakken, Three Forks and Red River formations of North Dakota and Montana.