David Hugo Anderson Sells 1,500 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Stock

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $76,770.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,674,615.62. The trade was a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $51.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.51. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $39.29 and a 12-month high of $55.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm 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 business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 106,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after buying an additional 5,644 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 164,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,037,000 after buying an additional 24,906 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 650.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 64,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after buying an additional 56,314 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,431,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.