Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Director Sells $76,290.00 in Stock

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total value of $76,290.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,581,602.74. This represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

David Hugo Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 20th, David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total value of $76,770.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

Shares of NWN stock traded up $0.60 on Tuesday, reaching $51.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 272,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,758. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $40.09 and a 1 year high of $55.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.01 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWN. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 197.5% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.