Insider Selling: Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Director Sells $472,905.00 in Stock

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 10,509 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $472,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,336,490. The trade was a 16.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

David Hugo Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 10th, David Hugo Anderson sold 4,930 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $221,850.00.
• On Wednesday, October 1st, David Hugo Anderson sold 328 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $14,760.00.
• On Tuesday, September 30th, David Hugo Anderson sold 4,233 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total transaction of $190,527.33.
• On Thursday, September 18th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,795 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.13, for a total transaction of $328,403.35.
• On Tuesday, August 19th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total transaction of $306,216.82.
• On Monday, July 21st, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total transaction of $314,700.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NYSE NWN opened at $45.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 52-week low of $38.03 and a 52-week high of $45.99.

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

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 77.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter worth $38,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 44.3% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 95.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.