AlphaQuest LLC Buys New Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of NWN. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter valued at about $16,007,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,493.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 368,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,749,000 after buying an additional 345,526 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter valued at about $7,851,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 61.6% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 223,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,536,000 after buying an additional 85,132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $347,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 44,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,060,736.58. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,869 shares of company stock worth $1,882,588. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.67.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:NWN opened at $46.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $47.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.28 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.07.

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

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 77.47%.

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.