MQS Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% in 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 period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 32.5% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on NWN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total transaction of $311,155.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 102,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,192,908.09. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 22,591 shares of company stock worth $931,255 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 113,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,395. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.09. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a one year low of $37.41 and a one year high of $44.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.53.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.19. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $494.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $464.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.78%.

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.