UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 17,711 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 12.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,711 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $7,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter worth $26,885,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at about $24,160,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 lifted its position in shares of 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 198,074 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total transaction of $76,290.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,581,602.74. The trade was a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NWN stock opened at $49.20 on Tuesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $40.90 and a 1 year high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.97. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.44.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. Research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 65.67%.

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.