Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWNFree Report) by 58.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,887 shares during the quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NWN. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $26,885,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $21,294,000 after buying an additional 448,796 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $27,437,000 after acquiring an additional 250,025 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC boosted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1,061.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 165,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,716,000 after acquiring an additional 150,867 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NWN shares. Freedom Capital raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.25.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on NWN

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $48.95 on Thursday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $39.29 and a 1 year high of $55.99. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $51.18 and a 200-day moving average of $49.80.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWNGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

About Northwest Natural Gas

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN)

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