Intech Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 62.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,752 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 27,772 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 577.6% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 266,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,593,000 after acquiring an additional 227,336 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,403,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,081,000 after acquiring an additional 181,635 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 940,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,355,000 after purchasing an additional 161,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 6.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,083,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $82,749,000 after purchasing an additional 131,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,142,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $52.16 on Tuesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.94 and a 1 year high of $53.66. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.41 and its 200 day moving average is $46.42.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $394.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $419.36 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.79%.The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.1%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 70.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.33.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.