Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Holdings Lifted by American Century Companies Inc.

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 4.5%, owning 205,667 shares valued at approximately $8.79 million.
• Northwest Natural Gas recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.8% with a payout ratio of 77.47%.
• The company's EPS for the last quarter surpassed analysts' expectations, reporting $0.01 against a consensus estimate of (0.07), while forecasted EPS for FY 2025 is 2.750-2.950.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,806 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.51% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $8,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWN. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $16,007,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 238.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,885,000 after purchasing an additional 265,013 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $7,851,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 223,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,536,000 after purchasing an additional 85,132 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 5,225.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,082,000 after purchasing an additional 70,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 79,717 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,222,958.31. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $41.07 on Wednesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a one year low of $38.03 and a one year high of $44.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.55. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.28.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $236.19 million during 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. As a group, analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid 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 dividend yield of 4.8%. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on NWN shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.00.

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.

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