Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.50.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NWN. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total value of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579 over the last three months. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 104.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 95.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $52.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.84. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1 year low of $39.10 and a 1 year high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.79%.The company had revenue of $394.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 70.86%.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.