Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Northwest Natural Gas stock reached a new 52-week high at $44.64, suggesting positive market sentiment, with a current trading price of $44.29.
• Analysts have set a consensus target price of $48.00, with ratings including one "Buy" and two "Hold" from various research reports.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.4%.

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $44.64 and last traded at $44.29, with a volume of 37170 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Zacks Research upgraded 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $48.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.29 and a 200 day moving average of $41.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is 77.47%.

Insider Activity

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,795 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.13, for a total value of $328,403.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 71,922 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,030,073.86. This represents a 9.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,869 shares of company stock valued at $949,320. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 139,823 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,531,000 after buying an additional 6,870 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5,225.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,082,000 after buying an additional 70,799 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the 1st quarter worth $991,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the 1st quarter worth $216,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 113,710 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,858,000 after buying an additional 10,053 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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