Intech Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Intech Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 52.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 48,310 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $1,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 178.9% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 113.0% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 5,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,939 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWN has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. BTIG Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 10,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $472,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,336,490. This represents a 16.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,763 shares of company stock worth $1,934,461. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.0%

NWN opened at $48.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $48.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%.The firm had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.71) EPS. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 78.49%.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.