Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Has $4.82 Million Stock Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 17.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 90,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,421 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $4,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 106,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,554,000 after buying an additional 5,644 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 17.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 164,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 24,906 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 650.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 64,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 56,314 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,431,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NWN shares. TD Cowen began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Down 1.2%

NWN opened at $50.62 on Wednesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $39.29 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.17.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The company had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.