Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,115 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.80% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $203,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abound Wealth Management purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Republic International Corp purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth $201,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total value of $314,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 87,291 shares in the company, valued at $3,662,730.36. This trade represents a 7.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $40.5380 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $38.03 and a 12-month high of $44.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.25.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

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.