Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Director David Hugo Anderson Sells 1,500 Shares of 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,581,602.74. This trade 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink.

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 transaction of $76,770.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $51.03 on Wednesday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $40.09 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.85.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.01 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 65.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWN has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,617,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

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.