First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 987,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 46,279 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.38% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $44,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6.5% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 13,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% in the third quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 22,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 33.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 57,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 14,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 12.1% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 52,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,645 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $51.49 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.60 and its 200 day moving average is $46.53. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.94 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.79%.The company had revenue of $394.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.36 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.97 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.3%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NWN. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

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.