Brokerages Set Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Target Price at $55.25

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $55.25.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital raised Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Northwest Natural Gas from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.86, for a total transaction of $76,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,581,602.74. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 197.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.4%

NWN stock opened at $50.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68 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 has a 12 month low of $40.84 and a 12 month high of $55.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.95.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The business had revenue of $243.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.01 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 65.67%.

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.