183,785 Shares in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Bought by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 183,785 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,851,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned 0.46% of Northwest Natural Gas at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 615,126 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,334,000 after buying an additional 46,135 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $635,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,151,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NWN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:NWN traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.06. 38,189 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,319. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $40.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 0.53. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $37.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.38.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $494.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $464.65 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 8.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is 77.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total transaction of $311,155.09. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,192,908.09. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 22,591 shares of company stock worth $931,255 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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.