Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Sold by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 318,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,804 shares during the quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $14,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% in the third 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. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $89,369.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,704 shares of company stock worth $89,579. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:NWN opened at $48.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a fifty-two week low of $39.25 and a fifty-two week high of $55.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 0.43.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NWN. Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

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.