Code Waechter LLC Trims Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN)

Code Waechter LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 55.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,424 shares during the period. Code Waechter LLC's holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abound Wealth Management bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter valued at $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake 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 valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter valued at about $186,000. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NWN shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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 target on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NYSE NWN traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.51. 270,556 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 257,926. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.04. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $37.41 and a 1 year high of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.78%.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total value of $311,155.09. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,192,908.09. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 22,591 shares of company stock valued at $931,255 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.