Should You Get Rid of Northern Oil and Gas (NOG) Now? - Tale of the Tape

Similar to wise buying decisions, exiting certain underperformers at the right time helps maximize portfolio returns. Selling off losers can be difficult, but if both the share price and estimates are falling, it could be time to get rid of the security before more losses hit your portfolio.

One such stock that you may want to consider dropping is Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. NOG, which has witnessed a significant price decline in the past four weeks, and it has seen negative earnings estimate revisions for the current quarter and the current year. A Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) further confirms weakness in NOG.

A key reason for this move has been the negative trend in earnings estimate revisions. For the full year, we have seen 4 estimates moving down in the past 30 days, compared with just 1 upward revision. This trend has caused the consensus estimate to trend lower, going from $1.15 a share a month ago to its current level of 98 cents.

Also, for the current quarter, Northern Oil and Gas has seen 3 downward estimate revisions versus just 1 revision in the opposite direction, dragging the consensus estimate down to 22 cents a share from 27 cents over the past 30 days.      
 
The stock also has seen some pretty dismal trading lately, as the share price has dropped 11.3% in the past month.

So it may not be a good decision to keep this stock in your portfolio anymore, at least if you don't have a long time horizon to wait.

If you are still interested in the Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Industry, you may instead consider better-ranked stocks like Range Resources Corporation RRC, Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. CWEI and Approach Resources, Inc. AREX. While RRC and CWEI sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), AREX has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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APPROACH RESRCS AREX: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
WILLIAMSCENGY CWEI: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
NORTHRN OIL&GAS NOG: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
RANGE RESOURCES RRC: Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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