Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,317 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,317 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $8,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 238.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,885,000 after purchasing an additional 265,013 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,392,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5,225.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 70,799 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 110,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,358,000 after purchasing an additional 49,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 615,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,334,000 after purchasing an additional 46,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $42.18 on Tuesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a one year low of $37.41 and a one year high of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.53.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.19. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $494.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $464.65 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 77.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total value of $311,155.09. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,192,908.09. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 22,591 shares of company stock valued at $931,255 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.