Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Stock: Penn Capital Management Company LLC Raises Holdings

Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 42.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,314 shares during the quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $2,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 28.3% in the third quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC now owns 1,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the 3rd quarter worth about $746,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 201,546 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,406,000 after acquiring an additional 54,852 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 9,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWN. Huntington initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho assumed coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings cut Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural Gas presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.43.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.3%

Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $51.90 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 12-month low of $45.69 and a 12-month high of $55.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.82 and its 200 day moving average is $50.20. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10 and a beta of 0.41.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $177.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.40 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is currently 66.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total value of $73,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,759 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,340.89. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $221,400. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Northwest Natural Gas Profile

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.

NW Natural Holdings is also involved in efforts to expand lower-carbon energy options, including renewable natural gas.