Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $76,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,674,615.62. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.
Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance
Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $52.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50-day moving average is $49.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.48. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $39.29 and a 1-year high of $55.99.
Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is currently 67.24%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages have commented on NWN. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $50.00 price objective 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 price objective for the company. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.25.
View Our Latest Research Report on NWN
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.
Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile
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Get Free Report)
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.
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