Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Truist Financial

Investment analysts at Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating and a $54.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Truist Financial‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.18% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Huntington initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.86.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $49.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $48.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.98. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52-week low of $44.45 and a 52-week high of $55.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly 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. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The company had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, 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 transaction of $73,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 47,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,340.89. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $221,400 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter worth about $16,287,000. Amundi grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,283.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 162,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,973,000 after acquiring an additional 150,764 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,732,000 after purchasing an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 224.5% during the 2nd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 43,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 30,016 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.