Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Purchases 1,315 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.19% of Northwest Natural Gas worth $3,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 47.7% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,173 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 223,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,536,000 after buying an additional 85,132 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 1st quarter worth $334,000. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 72.8% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $641,000 after acquiring an additional 6,326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $47.10 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.28 and its 200-day moving average is $42.45. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $48.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.57.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.09. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The business had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.71) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.4925 dividend. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.95, for a total transaction of $358,090.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 36,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,771,944.30. This trade represents a 16.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 42,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,934,461 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas 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.