Heartland Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Heartland Value Fund” third quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. During the quarter the fund outperformed the Russell 2000 Value Index returning -1.02% versus -2.96% for the benchmark. The Fund generated gains in Energy, Utilities, and Financials owing largely to stock selection despite a difficult market. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.
Heartland Value Fund highlighted stocks like National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in the third quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Williamsville, New York, National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is a diversified energy company. On October 12, 2023, National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) stock closed at $54.18 per share. One-month return of National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) was -0.06%, and its shares lost 14.12% of their value over the last 52 weeks. National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) has a market capitalization of $4.975 billion.
Heartland Value Fund made the following comment about National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in its Q3 2023 investor letter:
“Utilities. National Fuel Gas (NYSE:NFG) is another existing holding we added to in the quarter. NFG is an energy company, with regulated utility assets, involved in the production, transportation, and distribution of natural gas. The stock’s correlation with natural gas prices has been high, so it wasn’t too surprising when the stock fell as natural gas prices declined following last year’s benign winter.
But prices are expected to rebound in the coming months now that the supply issue has been addressed with the steep drop in oil gas rig counts. Demand is also set to improve starting in 2025 with the onset of more U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Meanwhile, this is a well-run business with a track record of financial soundness. NFG, for instance, has raised dividends for 53 consecutive years because of the consistent cash flow generation from its midstream and utility segments.
Yet, when looking at valuations, we see a disconnect. NFG is trading at a 20% discount to its historical valuations compared with traditional oil and gas exploration and production stocks. The relative premium it typically garners is a function of the company’s ability to leverage its pipeline infrastructure to capitalize on higher natural gas prices and the stability of non-energy cash flows. We are positioning the portfolio to take advantage of this opportunity.”
A worker in protective gear near a large natural gas exploration machinery. Editorial photo for a financial news article. 8k. –ar 16:9
National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) at the end of second quarter which was 26 in the previous quarter.
We discussed National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) in another article and shared the list of stocks receiving a massive vote of approval from Wall Street analysts. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
