Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at BTIG Research

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) was upgraded by stock analysts at BTIG Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on NWN. Zacks Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.67.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE NWN opened at $47.04 on Wednesday. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12 month low of $38.03 and a 12 month high of $47.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.79.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The business had revenue of $236.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.39, for a total value of $347,925.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,736.58. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 42,869 shares of company stock worth $1,882,588 in the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NWN. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 44.3% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 95.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 24.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Gas Company 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.