Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 19,496 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 634,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,496 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.57% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $27,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42,115 shares during the period. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 25,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 29,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 93,572.4% during the 1st quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 27,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 27,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $40.65 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $40.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.24. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $38.03 and a twelve month high of $44.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 77.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NWN. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total transaction of $306,216.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 79,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,222,958.31. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.