Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.80.

A number of analysts recently commented on NWN shares. Huntington started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $72,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,365,909.77. The trade was a 2.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $225,105. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 197.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 65,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,476,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 30.6% during the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 3,793 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $48.43 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.31. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12-month low of $43.78 and a 12-month high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas Company, doing business as NW Natural, is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company delivers natural gas through its pipeline system and provides related services, including energy-efficiency programs, appliance services, and solutions designed to support safe and efficient natural gas use.

Founded in 1859, NW Natural has developed a long-standing presence in the Pacific Northwest. Its natural gas utility operations primarily serve communities in Oregon and southwest Washington.