Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 18.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,350 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,170,000 after acquiring an additional 42,115 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth about $48,551,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 3.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 634,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,111,000 after acquiring an additional 19,496 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $16,007,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,493.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 368,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,749,000 after acquiring an additional 345,526 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.39, for a total transaction of $347,925.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 44,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,736.58. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,869 shares of company stock worth $1,882,588. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NWN shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.67.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $46.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.07. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $47.79.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The firm had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. Analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is currently 77.47%.

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.