Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Stake Lowered by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 238,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,586 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $12,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $51.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 0.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12 month low of $39.29 and a 12 month high of $55.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.38.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NWN. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

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.