Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Acquired by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 54.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $10,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NWN. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% in 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 in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 375.6% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $76,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,259 shares in the company, valued at $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 through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $51.20 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $39.29 and a one year high of $55.99. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.51.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NWN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

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.