Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9%, now owning approximately 11.80% of the company with 4,755,844 shares valued at $203.17 million.
• In recent trades, several hedge funds have adjusted their positions, leading to a total of 75.13% of the stock currently held by institutional investors.
• Northwest Natural Gas reported a quarterly EPS of $0.01, exceeding estimates, while also declaring a dividend of $0.49 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 4.8%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 42,115 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.80% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $203,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 worth $28,323,000 after purchasing an additional 17,391 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 238.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,885,000 after purchasing an additional 265,013 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 363,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,382,000 after purchasing an additional 8,542 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 61.6% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 223,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,536,000 after purchasing an additional 85,132 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 200,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,922,000 after purchasing an additional 8,747 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock traded down $0.7350 on Monday, reaching $41.3350. 195,068 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 261,834. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $44.38. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 0.55. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.28.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%.The business 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is 77.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on NWN shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $48.00.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 22,574 shares of company stock valued at $918,517 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

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.