Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Stock: Insider David Hugo Anderson Sells 1,500 Shares

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total value of $73,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,340.89. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

David Hugo Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, September 18th, David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $72,045.00.
• On Tuesday, August 18th, David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total value of $76,290.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NWN stock opened at $49.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27 and a beta of 0.40. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $44.45 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.05.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is currently 65.67%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 3,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $311,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $504,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 27,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 5,466 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NWN. Huntington initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research set a $56.00 price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating as NW Natural and a subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, is an energy and utility company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Its principal business is the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NW Natural serves communities primarily in Oregon and southwest Washington through a regulated natural gas distribution system. The company also provides related services, including natural gas storage and programs focused on renewable natural gas and other lower-carbon energy solutions.

The company traces its history to 1859 and has expanded beyond its traditional natural gas operations through investments in water and wastewater utilities.