Key Points
- Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 NWN shares at an average price of $48.71, generating $73,065 and reducing his ownership by 3.05% to 47,759 shares. He also sold 1,500 shares in both August and September.
- Northwest Natural Gas raised its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, equivalent to a $2.00 annualized dividend and a 4.1% yield.
- Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $55.80, compared with shares trading near $48.77.
Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total transaction of $73,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 47,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,340.89. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
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 shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $76,290.00.
Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance
Shares of NWN opened at $48.77 on Thursday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $44.45 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.08. 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 (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.
Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is 66.67%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Huntington initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings cut Northwest Natural Gas from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $56.00 price objective on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $55.80.
Get Our Latest Report on NWN
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 743,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,571,000 after acquiring an additional 18,669 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,287,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,732,000 after purchasing an additional 70,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 12.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,795 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,557,000 after purchasing an additional 22,055 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.
About Northwest Natural Gas
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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