SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 150,867 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 1,061.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 165,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 150,867 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $7,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 4,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 149 shares in the company, valued at $7,832.93. This trade represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579 over the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $53.65 on Tuesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $38.94 and a twelve month high of $53.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $50.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.54.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.79%.The firm had revenue of $394.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.97 dividend. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.7%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

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.