Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 95.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,205 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $1,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 743,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,571,000 after purchasing an additional 18,669 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,287,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,732,000 after purchasing an additional 70,773 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 12.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 194,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,557,000 after purchasing an additional 22,055 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $52.12. 352,156 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 314,123. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12 month low of $45.69 and a 12 month high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.17. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.23% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $177.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.73) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 30th. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is 66.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total transaction of $73,065.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,340.89. The trade was a 3.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $221,400 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, November 9th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Huntington assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, November 6th. They set a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.43.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas, now organized as NW Natural Holdings, is a utility company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas through its NW Natural subsidiary. The company serves residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon and southwest Washington. Founded in 1859 as the Portland Gas Light Company, the business has grown from a local gas provider into a regional utility. Its operations also include natural gas storage and, through subsidiaries, water and wastewater services.