MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 345,526 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company by 1,493.6%, acquiring an additional 345,526 shares, bringing its total ownership to about 0.91% of the company.
• Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of Northwest Natural Gas, resulting in an 8.68% decrease in his ownership, as insider selling totaled 22,574 shares worth $918,517 over the past three months.
• Northwest Natural Gas recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, which equates to an annual dividend yield of 4.7% and a payout ratio of approximately 77.47%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 1,493.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 368,660 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 345,526 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.91% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $15,749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NWN. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth $16,007,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 238.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,885,000 after acquiring an additional 265,013 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth $7,851,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 61.6% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 223,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,536,000 after buying an additional 85,132 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 5,225.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,082,000 after buying an additional 70,799 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NWN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWN traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.50. 193,421 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 263,562. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12 month low of $38.03 and a 12 month high of $44.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.55. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $40.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.30.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%.The company had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is presently 77.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total value of $306,216.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 79,717 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,958.31. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517. 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.