Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Holdings Boosted by Penn Capital Management Company LLC

Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 42.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,314 shares during the period. Penn Capital Management Company LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NWN. Axiom Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the third quarter worth $746,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 37.4% during the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 201,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,406,000 after buying an additional 54,852 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 17.6% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 9,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the third quarter valued at $239,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.3%

NWN stock opened at $51.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $45.69 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $48.82 and its 200-day moving average is $50.20.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.17. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%. The business had revenue of $177.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.10 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 66.23%.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas 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 transaction, the director directly owned 47,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,340.89. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $221,400. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on NWN shares. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.43.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

Northwest Natural Gas, now organized as NW Natural Holdings, is a utility company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas through its NW Natural subsidiary. The company serves residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon and southwest Washington.

Founded in 1859 as the Portland Gas Light Company, the business has grown from a local gas provider into a regional utility. Its operations also include natural gas storage and, through subsidiaries, water and wastewater services.

NW Natural Holdings is also involved in efforts to expand lower-carbon energy options, including renewable natural gas.