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

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $492,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,450 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares during the period. Finally, Reaves W H & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 3.1% during the first quarter. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. now owns 25,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 79,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,222,958.31. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 22,574 shares of company stock worth $918,517 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of NYSE NWN traded up $1.3050 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.0150. 320,065 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 256,347. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $44.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $40.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.27.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued 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 of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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 raised Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.00.

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.