First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Position in Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 4.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 987,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 46,279 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $44,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 77.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 95.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 33.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 29.4% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Down 0.3%

NWN opened at $51.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.53. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.55. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 52 week low of $38.94 and a 52 week high of $53.66.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.03. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 8.79%.The business had revenue of $394.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $419.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Analysts forecast 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, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.97 dividend. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.3%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is currently 70.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.33.

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.