Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NWN shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $89,369.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,832.93. This trade represents a 91.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NWN. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,885,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6,616.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 455,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,294,000 after buying an additional 448,796 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,437,000 after buying an additional 250,025 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 3,319.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 211,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,887,000 after buying an additional 205,350 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 224.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 286,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,386,000 after buying an additional 198,074 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $48.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.91 and its 200-day moving average is $49.72. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12 month low of $39.25 and a 12 month high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.24%.

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.