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

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,403,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 181,635 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $63,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $296,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 106,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,554,000 after buying an additional 5,644 shares during the last quarter. Dean Capital Management boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 43.7% during the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 10,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 17.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 164,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 24,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 650.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 64,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 56,314 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $358,090.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 36,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,771,944.30. This represents a 16.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 30,408 shares of company stock valued at $1,400,818. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWN has been the subject of several analyst reports. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.67.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NWN opened at $46.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.59 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $49.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.20 and a 200 day moving average of $43.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The business had revenue of $164.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.66 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Northwest Natural Gas 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.