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

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $76,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 52,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,674,615.62. This trade represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE NWN opened at $52.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 0.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $39.29 and a twelve month high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.24%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,617,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. 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 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.