Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.91 Million Holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 5.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,292 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned approximately 0.12% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $1,908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 16,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,942,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $331,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 57,803 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 2nd quarter worth about $48,551,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $44.59 on Friday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 52-week low of $38.03 and a 52-week high of $45.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The business had revenue of $236.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $252.70 million. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.750-2.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 4,233 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total transaction of $190,527.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 67,689 shares in the company, valued at $3,046,681.89. This trade represents a 5.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 27,430 shares of company stock worth $1,154,608 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.