Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $50.34 and traded as high as $51.56. Northwest Natural Gas shares last traded at $51.4750, with a volume of 164,209 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NWN shares. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $49.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.34. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 67.24%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter worth $26,885,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,294,000 after purchasing an additional 448,796 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,437,000 after purchasing an additional 250,025 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3,319.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 211,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,887,000 after purchasing an additional 205,350 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 224.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 286,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,386,000 after buying an additional 198,074 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.