Insider Selling: Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Director Sells 7,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director David Hugo Anderson of Northwest Natural Gas sold 7,500 shares at an average price of $46.39, reducing his ownership by 14.44%.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.4925, to be paid on November 14th, with a total annualized dividend of $1.97.
• Northwest Natural Gas reported a quarterly EPS of $0.01, surpassing analysts' expectations and setting FY 2025 guidance between $2.750-$2.950 EPS.

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.39, for a total value of $347,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,060,736.58. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

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

• On Wednesday, October 15th, David Hugo Anderson sold 10,509 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $472,905.00.
• On Friday, October 10th, David Hugo Anderson sold 4,930 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $221,850.00.
• On Wednesday, October 1st, David Hugo Anderson sold 328 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $14,760.00.
• On Tuesday, September 30th, David Hugo Anderson sold 4,233 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total value of $190,527.33.
• On Thursday, September 18th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,795 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.13, for a total transaction of $328,403.35.
• On Tuesday, August 19th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,574 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.43, for a total value of $306,216.82.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.2%

Northwest Natural Gas stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $47.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 535,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,306. 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 has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.79. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12 month low of $38.03 and a 12 month high of $47.73.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 44.3% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 95.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% in the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.67.

Northwest Natural Gas Company 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.

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