American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 29,961 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 235,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,961 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $9,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 20,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3.8% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3.5% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 21,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $861,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 8.9% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 9,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Insider Activity

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 10,509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $472,905.00. Following the sale, the director owned 51,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,336,490. The trade was a 16.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 42,763 shares of company stock worth $1,934,461 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NWN stock opened at $46.23 on Friday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $38.03 and a 12-month high of $49.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.56 and a 200-day moving average of $42.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42 and a beta of 0.55.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.66 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.71) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 78.49%.

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.