First Trust Advisors LP Lowers Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 12.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 755,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 103,514 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $40,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,617,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.6%

Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $51.37 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a twelve month low of $39.29 and a twelve month high of $55.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.44.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.24%.

Northwest Natural Gas 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.