Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN – Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.80.
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Huntington began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on NWN
Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter worth about $26,885,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth approximately $16,287,000. Amundi boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,283.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 162,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,973,000 after acquiring an additional 150,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,732,000 after acquiring an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.
Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance
Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $48.67 on Friday. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $50.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.89. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1-year low of $41.65 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.44.
Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.
Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.67%.
About Northwest Natural Gas
Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating under 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, along with related utility and energy services.
Through its regulated natural gas utility, Northwest Natural serves customers in Oregon and southwest Washington. The company also has expanded beyond its traditional gas-distribution operations through businesses involved in water and wastewater services, renewable natural gas and other energy-related activities.
The company traces its history to 1859 and has developed into one of the Pacific Northwest’s established natural gas utilities.
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