Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 79.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,129 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.15% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $3,112,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 38.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 76,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,563,000 after acquiring an additional 21,194 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,294,000 after purchasing an additional 448,796 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $630,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 17.0% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 193,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,280,000 after purchasing an additional 28,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1,660.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 23,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 21,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE NWN opened at $50.80 on Friday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $39.98 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $243.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $76,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,674,615.62. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.