Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Director Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total value of $73,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,340.89. This represents a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, September 18th, David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $72,045.00.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total value of $76,290.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE NWN traded down $0.12 on Wednesday, reaching $48.77. 204,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,625. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $48.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.40. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.45 and a fifty-two week high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%. The business had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth $16,287,000. Amundi lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,283.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 162,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,973,000 after purchasing an additional 150,764 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,732,000 after buying an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 224.5% during the second quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 43,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,129,000 after buying an additional 30,016 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWN has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Huntington assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research set a $56.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.80.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating as NW Natural and a subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, is an energy and utility company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Its principal business is the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NW Natural serves communities primarily in Oregon and southwest Washington through a regulated natural gas distribution system. The company also provides related services, including natural gas storage and programs focused on renewable natural gas and other lower-carbon energy solutions.

The company traces its history to 1859 and has expanded beyond its traditional natural gas operations through investments in water and wastewater utilities.