Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $49.63 and last traded at $49.34, with a volume of 444164 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.67.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 1.0%

The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.93 and a 200-day moving average of $42.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The company had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.71) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 78.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $358,090.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,771,944.30. The trade was a 16.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,763 shares of company stock worth $1,934,461. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,007,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1,493.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 368,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,749,000 after acquiring an additional 345,526 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 577.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 266,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,593,000 after acquiring an additional 227,336 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 20.7% during the second quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 940,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,355,000 after purchasing an additional 161,000 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.