Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $49.92 and last traded at $49.84, with a volume of 43093 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on NWN shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.33.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08 and a beta of 0.57.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.97 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.6%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $358,090.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,771,944.30. The trade was a 16.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter worth $26,885,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,294,000 after purchasing an additional 448,796 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,437,000 after buying an additional 250,025 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 577.6% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 266,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,593,000 after buying an additional 227,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 224.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 286,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,386,000 after buying an additional 198,074 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN), commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.