Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 448,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,516 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.11% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $19,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,537,000 after buying an additional 5,317 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,160 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter valued at about $186,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NYSE NWN opened at $41.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.53. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 52-week low of $37.41 and a 52-week high of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.10.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.19. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 8.48%. The company had revenue of $494.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $464.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on NWN. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.68, for a total value of $297,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 94,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,761,306.88. This trade represents a 7.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,591 shares of company stock worth $931,255. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas 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.