Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $50.34 and traded as high as $51.56. Northwest Natural Gas shares last traded at $51.4750, with a volume of 164,209 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Freedom Capital raised Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.34.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWN. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 6.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,083,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $82,749,000 after acquiring an additional 131,019 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 989,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,261,000 after purchasing an additional 16,297 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 860,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,683,000 after purchasing an additional 3,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 743,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,571,000 after purchasing an additional 18,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,437,000 after purchasing an additional 250,025 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.