Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,222,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,551,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 24,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,769 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $564,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $531,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $246,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 50,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:NWN opened at $44.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $45.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $236.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 77.47%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 4,233 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total value of $190,527.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,046,681.89. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,430 shares of company stock valued at $1,154,608. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.