Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 27,290 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company by 27.3%, now owning approximately $5.4 million worth of shares.
• Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares at an average price of $40.99, reducing his ownership by 6.91%.
• Northwest Natural Gas recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49, reflecting an annual yield of 4.8% with a payout ratio of 77.47%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 27.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,290 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.32% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $5,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. Abound Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $34,000. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $186,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NWN shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.6%

NWN stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.36. The stock had a trading volume of 35,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,503. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a one year low of $38.03 and a one year high of $44.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company's 50 day moving average is $40.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 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. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The firm 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.47%.

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.