Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $53.66 and last traded at $53.4510, with a volume of 97004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NWN. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.33.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.00 and its 200 day moving average is $47.50.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $394.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $419.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.97 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.7%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 70.86%.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total value of $89,369.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 149 shares in the company, valued at $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579 in the last 90 days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWN. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,885,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,294,000 after acquiring an additional 448,796 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,437,000 after acquiring an additional 250,025 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 3,319.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 211,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,887,000 after acquiring an additional 205,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 224.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 286,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,386,000 after purchasing an additional 198,074 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.