Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Freedom Capital

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on NWN. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.6%

NWN stock opened at $50.51 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12 month low of $39.10 and a 12 month high of $55.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.37.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 70.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% in the 1st 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

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.