Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company by 3.2%, acquiring an additional 19,496 shares, bringing its total holdings to 634,622 shares valued at approximately $27.11 million.
• The company reported quarterly earnings showing an EPS of $0.01, beating estimates, with revenues of $236.19 million despite falling short of analyst projections.
• Northwest Natural Gas announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend yield of 4.8%, indicating strong shareholder returns amidst varied stock ratings from analysts.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 634,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 19,496 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.57% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $27,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,104 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 4,554 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter worth $252,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter worth $1,151,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 74,863 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 11,160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total transaction of $306,216.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 79,717 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,958.31. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NWN shares. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has 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 currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Northwest Natural Gas stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $41.66. 82,184 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 274,099. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.55. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.28.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $236.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.47%.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

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.