Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,223 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 85,132 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.55% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $9,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,151,000. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 76,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $398,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Northwest Natural Gas
Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance
NYSE:NWN traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.84. The company had a trading volume of 210,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,912. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.18. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a one year low of $37.41 and a one year high of $44.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.53.
Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.19. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.48% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $494.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $464.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.69 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.
Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.78%.
Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas
In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total transaction of $311,155.09. Following the sale, the director directly owned 102,291 shares in the company, valued at $4,192,908.09. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,591 shares of company stock valued at $923,455. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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