Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Receives $55.25 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.80.

NWN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Huntington initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total value of $76,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,581,602.74. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,617,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 57.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 197.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.8%

NWN stock opened at $48.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1-year low of $42.30 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.67%.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating under 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, along with related utility and energy services.

Through its regulated natural gas utility, Northwest Natural serves customers in Oregon and southwest Washington. The company also has expanded beyond its traditional gas-distribution operations through businesses involved in water and wastewater services, renewable natural gas and other energy-related activities.

The company traces its history to 1859 and has developed into one of the Pacific Northwest’s established natural gas utilities.