SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 150,867 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,061.3% in Q4, purchasing 150,867 shares to hold 165,082 shares (about $7.72 million, ~0.40% of the company).
• Northwest Natural sharply increased its quarterly dividend to $1.97 (annualized $7.88), implying a yield of about 14.7%, up from the prior quarterly payout of $0.49.
• The company reported Q4 EPS of $1.39 (beating estimates by $0.03) but missed revenue expectations, issued FY2026 guidance of 2.95–3.15 EPS, and holds a consensus analyst view of "Moderate Buy" with a $53.33 target.

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 1,061.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 165,082 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 150,867 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.40% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $7,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,529 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total value of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 149 shares in the company, valued at $7,832.93. This represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,704 shares of company stock worth $89,579 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NWN stock opened at $53.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.94 and a 1 year high of $53.76. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.54. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $50.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.58.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $394.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.36 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.79%.Northwest Natural Gas's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.7%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is 70.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Northwest Natural Gas Company 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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