Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP significantly increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company by 478.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 17,257 shares, bringing its total holdings to 20,865 shares worth $891,000.
• Northwest Natural Gas reported earnings of $0.01 EPS, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07), but had revenue below expectations at $236.19 million.
• The company recently announced a dividend of $0.49 per share, with a current annualized yield of 4.7% and a payout ratio of 77.47%.

Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 478.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,865 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 17,257 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP owned approximately 0.05% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $203,170,000 after acquiring an additional 42,115 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 715,951 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,323,000 after purchasing an additional 17,391 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 3.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 634,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,111,000 after acquiring an additional 19,496 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 238.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,885,000 after buying an additional 265,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter worth about $16,007,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE NWN traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $41.31. The company had a trading volume of 241,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,377. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $44.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.55. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $40.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.28.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is currently 77.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NWN shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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 report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 79,717 shares in the company, valued at $3,222,958.31. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

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.