Penn Capital Management Company LLC Grows Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• Penn Capital Management increased its Northwest Natural Gas position by 224.5% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 43,387 shares valued at approximately $2.13 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.13% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with a $55.25 price target; Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to “equal weight,” while other firms issued buy or strong-buy ratings.
• Northwest Natural Gas reported quarterly EPS of $0.01, beating estimates by $0.09, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4925 per share, representing a 4.0% annualized yield.

Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 224.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 30,016 shares during the quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned about 0.10% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $2,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NWN. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 197.5% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 375.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,308 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total value of $76,290.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,581,602.74. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on NWN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northwest Natural Gas from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $49.41 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $40.90 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The firm had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is currently 65.67%.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

Northwest Natural Gas NYSE: NWN, commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.

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