Northwest Natural Gas Company $NWN Shares Purchased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 193,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,084 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural Gas were worth $10,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter valued at $342,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter worth $1,017,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the 4th quarter worth $607,000. Finally, VARCOV Co. purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas in the fourth quarter valued at $399,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $50.87 on Friday. Northwest Natural Gas Company has a 1-year low of $39.29 and a 1-year high of $55.99. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $50.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.89.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted 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). Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on NWN. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas 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.