David Hugo Anderson Sells 7,500 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Stock

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.96, for a total value of $314,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,662,730.36. The trade was a 7.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, June 20th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.68, for a total value of $297,600.00.
• On Wednesday, May 21st, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,591 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total value of $311,155.09.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NWN traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 210,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,912. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 52 week low of $37.41 and a 52 week high of $44.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $40.77 and its 200-day moving average is $41.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $494.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $464.65 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 8.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is 77.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $203,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42,115 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth $48,551,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,958,000 after purchasing an additional 24,510 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 634,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,111,000 after purchasing an additional 19,496 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

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.