Groupe la Francaise Acquires New Stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise has acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company, purchasing 9,137 shares valued at approximately $381,000.
• Analyst ratings for Northwest Natural Gas include a recent buy rating from Stifel Nicolaus, raising the price target from $45.00 to $49.00, with a consensus rating of Hold at an average target price of $48.00.
• Northwest Natural Gas announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49, representing an annualized yield of 4.7%.

Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,137 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $381,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. Abound Wealth Management bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Republic International Corp bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 3.2%

NYSE NWN opened at $42.0150 on Monday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $44.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.70 and a 200-day moving average of $41.28. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.55.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $236.19 million during 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 79,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,222,958.31. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas 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.

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