Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 21.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 238,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 66,586 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.57% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $12,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,377,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $51.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 52 week low of $39.29 and a 52 week high of $55.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.85 and a 200-day moving average of $50.38.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $490.40 million for 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 business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

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.