Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Raised to "Strong-Buy" at Freedom Capital

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Freedom Capital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

NWN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "hold" rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.6%

Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $50.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.47. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1-year low of $39.10 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.37.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total value of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 149 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,832.93. This represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 6.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,335 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 743,512 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,571,000 after buying an additional 18,669 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 82,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,369,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter valued at about $1,235,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $3,617,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas NYSE: NWN, commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.

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