Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Trims Stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. cut its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,189,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 203,259 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned 2.86% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $63,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.2%

NWN opened at $49.09 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $39.29 and a fifty-two week high of $55.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.94 and its 200 day moving average is $49.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 67.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen started 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.