Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to “Hold” Rating

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) was upgraded by Freedom Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen initiated 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 objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. 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. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.50.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Down 0.1%

NWN opened at $52.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.19. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.47. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1 year low of $39.10 and a 1 year high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $394.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.36 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $89,369.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 149 shares in the company, valued at $7,832.93. This trade represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,704 shares of company stock worth $89,579 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 33.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 266,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,974,000 after purchasing an additional 66,630 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 738.4% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 72,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,239,000 after purchasing an additional 63,500 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,061.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 165,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,716,000 after purchasing an additional 150,867 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 14.9% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,403,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,081,000 after purchasing an additional 181,635 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,294,000 after purchasing an additional 448,796 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Company 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.