Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Director David Hugo Anderson Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 NWN shares at an average price of $48.03, totaling $72,045. He retained 49,259 shares after the transaction and has also sold 1,500 shares in each of the prior two months.
• Northwest Natural Gas shares traded near $48.02, below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.01, beating estimates, while revenue of $243.55 million fell short of expectations.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.4925, equivalent to an annualized $1.97 and a 4.1% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $55.80, while institutional investors own 75.13% of the stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $72,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,365,909.77. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

David Hugo Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total value of $76,290.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $76,770.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NWN traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $48.02. The stock had a trading volume of 263,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 238,644. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $42.38 and a 1 year high of $55.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $49.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $243.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The company's revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Huntington initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.80.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWN. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 57.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 197.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating under Northwest Natural Holding Company, is an energy and utility company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Its principal business is the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers, along with related utility and energy services.

Through its regulated natural gas utility, Northwest Natural serves customers in Oregon and southwest Washington. The company also has expanded beyond its traditional gas-distribution operations through businesses involved in water and wastewater services, renewable natural gas and other energy-related activities.

The company traces its history to 1859 and has developed into one of the Pacific Northwest's established natural gas utilities.

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