Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Receives $55.25 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.25.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on NWN. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $49.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.79. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52-week low of $39.29 and a 52-week high of $55.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 0.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The business had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.24%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total value of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,832.93. This represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter worth $71,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,732,000 after purchasing an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 140.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 11,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 6,858 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.3% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 41,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 5,835 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 34.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 41,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 10,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.13% 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.