Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Advisors Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,282 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 47,605 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $3,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 6.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,083,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $82,749,000 after buying an additional 131,019 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,403,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,081,000 after acquiring an additional 181,635 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 956,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,008,000 after acquiring an additional 5,251 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 940,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,355,000 after acquiring an additional 161,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 359,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,263,000 after purchasing an additional 13,730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $358,090.60. Following the sale, the director owned 36,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,771,944.30. This trade represents a 16.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NWN stock opened at $50.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.15. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $38.94 and a 12-month high of $50.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08 and a beta of 0.57. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.97 per share. This represents a $7.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.6%. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Northwest Natural Gas Company 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.