Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Stock Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN — Free Report) by 577.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 266,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 227,336 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.66% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $10,593,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 44.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 178.9% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $49.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $46.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1 year low of $38.03 and a 1 year high of $49.63.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN — Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $164.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.66 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.60% and a net margin of 8.34%.Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.71) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total value of $358,090.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 36,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,771,944.30. This represents a 16.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 42,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,934,461 over the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NWN shares. Zacks Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research raised Northwest Natural Gas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.67.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

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