Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

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Shares of Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE:NOG – Get Rating) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.20.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Northern Oil and Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 14th. Finally, Northland Securities raised their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $50.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northern Oil and Gas news, President Adam A. Dirlam sold 6,620 shares of Northern Oil and Gas stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.71, for a total transaction of $229,780.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 58,128 shares in the company, valued at $2,017,622.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Northern Oil and Gas news, President Adam A. Dirlam sold 6,620 shares of Northern Oil and Gas stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.71, for a total transaction of $229,780.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 58,128 shares in the company, valued at $2,017,622.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Chad W. Allen sold 2,358 shares of Northern Oil and Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.16, for a total transaction of $89,981.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 47,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,794,626.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 358,372 shares of company stock worth $13,428,038. Insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Oil and Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northern Oil and Gas by 28.3% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,809,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,761,000 after buying an additional 1,282,999 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 7.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,438,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,127,000 after purchasing an additional 326,123 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,743,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,615,000 after purchasing an additional 20,217 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,423,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,138,000 after purchasing an additional 122,883 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 8.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,403,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,748,000 after purchasing an additional 189,595 shares during the period. 96.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

Northern Oil and Gas stock opened at $31.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 1.97. Northern Oil and Gas has a 1-year low of $20.02 and a 1-year high of $39.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.83.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 8th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $534.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.87 million. On average, analysts expect that Northern Oil and Gas will post 6.99 EPS for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 29th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. This is a boost from Northern Oil and Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Northern Oil and Gas’s payout ratio is presently 13.76%.

About Northern Oil and Gas

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Northern Oil and Gas, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. The company primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States.