Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires 13,016 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 58.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,016 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $1,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 483,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,602,000 after purchasing an additional 51,350 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,437,000 after purchasing an additional 250,025 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 270,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,372 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 77,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,610,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter worth $1,683,000. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $48.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $55.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The company had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NWN. TD Cowen began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas presently 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.