Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Boosts Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 27.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,118 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.35% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $6,256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in 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 period. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 29.4% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 7.6% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 523.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $46.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 0.55. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $38.03 and a 12-month high of $49.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.66 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The business’s revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.71) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $358,090.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,771,944.30. The trade was a 16.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,969 shares of company stock valued at $1,606,105. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN), commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.