Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $2 Million Stock Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,800 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NWN. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 33.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $53.65 on Tuesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $38.94 and a fifty-two week high of $53.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.14 and a 200 day moving average of $47.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30 and a beta of 0.54.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $394.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $419.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.97 dividend. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.7%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 70.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,832.93. This represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579 in the last quarter. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

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.