People watch stocks for different reasons -- they're waiting for a dip in price, watching for a specific catalyst, gathering all the news and information that might affect stocks they already own, or considering a sell. Regardless of their motivation, we can better understand market sentiment by seeing who's watching what. With the Fool's free My Watchlist service, we have tens of thousands of people telling us the businesses that have, for whatever reason, piqued their interest.

The most-watched gas stock is ...
Looking at the aggregate data, we see that AGL Resources (NYSE: AGL) is above the rest in terms of watch interest, the percentage of people keeping an eye on gas stocks in general who are specifically watching each company. And for good reason. As CAPS member poppycock2 wrote:

T. Boone Pickens is right when he said natural gas is the future. This company generates much of their electricity from this source as well as increasingly from renewable sources as well. It pays a high dividend to boot.

Here are the rest of the 15 most-watched companies in the industry with their watch interest along with the stocks' CAPS rating to show the sentiment of our investing community.

 

Company

Market Cap (millions)

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Watch Interest

1

AGL Resources

$3,157

*****

11.5%

2

Piedmont Natural Gas

$2,225

****

10.9%

3

China Natural Gas (Nasdaq: CHNG)

$126

****

9.4%

4

Suburban Propane Partners (NYSE: SPH)

$1,981

****

8.5%

5

AmeriGas Partners (NYSE: APU)

$2,734

***

7.4%

6

ONEOK

$7,099

****

6.7%

7

National Fuel Gas (NYSE: NFG)

$6,172

****

5.4%

8

Ferrellgas Partners (NYSE: FGP)

$1,942

**

4.6%

9

Questar

$3,076

****

3.7%

10

WGL Holdings

$2,014

***

3.7%

11

Atmos Energy

$3,116

***

3.5%

12

Nicor

$2,457

***

3.5%

13

Northwest Natural Gas

$1,223

*****

3.1%

14

Southwest Gas

$1,818

***

3.0%

15

Star Gas Partners (NYSE: SGU)

$372

****

2.6%

Sources: Motley Fool, Motley Fool CAPS.

Whether you're keeping an eye on the industry stalwarts like AGL Resources or are watching an up-and-comer like China Natural Gas, it pays to watch. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Click here to start now.