EP Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake of 6,920 shares in Northwest Natural Gas Company, valued at approximately $296,000, during the first quarter.
• Brokerage firm Stifel Nicolaus increased its price target on the stock from $45.00 to $49.00, giving it a "buy" rating, while analysts maintain an average target price of $48.00.
• Northwest Natural Gas reported earnings of $0.01 per share, exceeding expectations, but its revenue of $236.19 million fell short of analyst estimates of $252.70 million.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,920 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 113.0% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,541 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 2,939 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $288,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 363,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,537,000 after purchasing an additional 8,300 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc. raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 20,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1,493.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 368,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,749,000 after purchasing an additional 345,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NWN shares. Zacks Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock 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, Northwest Natural Gas has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total value of $306,216.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 79,717 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NWN stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $42.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 211,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,516. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70 and a beta of 0.59. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.03 and a fifty-two week high of $44.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $41.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. Research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.