New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ:NFE) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ:NFE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $15.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $35.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a sell rating and set a $7.60 target price (down from $21.00) on shares of New Fortress Energy in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of New Fortress Energy from $27.00 to $19.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of New Fortress Energy from $35.00 to $15.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of New Fortress Energy from $40.00 to $17.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $19.77.

New Fortress Energy Stock Up 11.7 %

NFE opened at $10.09 on Thursday. New Fortress Energy has a fifty-two week low of $8.20 and a fifty-two week high of $40.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $12.60 and its 200 day moving average is $20.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.38, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ:NFE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.50). The business had revenue of $428.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $465.52 million. New Fortress Energy had a return on equity of 18.80% and a net margin of 10.19%. New Fortress Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. Research analysts expect that New Fortress Energy will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New Fortress Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. New Fortress Energy’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Insider Activity at New Fortress Energy

In related news, CEO Wesley R. Edens bought 5,793,742 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.63 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,993.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,721,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,280,126.45. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 37.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of New Fortress Energy

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of New Fortress Energy by 1.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 15,182,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,427,000 after buying an additional 217,697 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in New Fortress Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 9,549,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,896,000 after acquiring an additional 633,170 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in New Fortress Energy by 73.9% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 8,026,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,414,000 after acquiring an additional 3,410,630 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in New Fortress Energy by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,797,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,445,000 after purchasing an additional 395,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in New Fortress Energy by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 3,192,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,163,000 after purchasing an additional 619,621 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.61% of the company’s stock.

About New Fortress Energy

New Fortress Energy Inc operates as an integrated gas-to-power energy infrastructure company that provides energy and development services to end-users worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Terminals and Infrastructure, and Ships. The Terminals and Infrastructure segment engages in the natural gas procurement and liquefaction; and shipping, logistics, facilities and conversion, or development of natural gas-fired power generation.