Invesco Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has sold 19,323 shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company, reducing its stake by 2.1% to approximately 2.18% of the company, valued at $37.61 million.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for Northwest Natural Gas, with Stifel Nicolaus raising the price target to $49.00 and Wells Fargo increasing it to $47.00.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings with $0.01 earnings per share, surpassing analyst expectations, and disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share.

Invesco Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 880,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 19,323 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 2.18% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $37,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abound Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $186,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 3.2%

NWN stock traded up $1.3050 on Friday, hitting $42.0150. 320,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 256,347. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $38.03 and a twelve month 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 business's fifty day moving average is $40.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.55.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The company had revenue of $236.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is currently 77.47%.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total transaction of $306,216.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 79,717 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,958.31. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.00.

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.