First Trust Advisors LP Sells 39,938 Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,033,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,938 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $41,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,755,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,170,000 after purchasing an additional 42,115 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the second quarter valued at about $48,551,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 956,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,008,000 after buying an additional 5,251 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 940,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,355,000 after buying an additional 161,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 634,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,111,000 after acquiring an additional 19,496 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:NWN opened at $46.04 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $38.03 and a 1-year high of $49.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.06.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.82) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $164.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $174.66 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.30% and a net margin of 7.94%.Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.71) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 10,509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $472,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,336,490. The trade was a 16.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 42,763 shares of company stock worth $1,934,461 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Company 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.