Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Mizuho

Stock analysts at Mizuho began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 2.11% from the stock’s previous close.

NWN has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Northwest Natural Gas to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Huntington began coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research set a $56.00 target price on Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $49.94 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $55.99. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.72 and a 200 day moving average of $50.05.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $243.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 8.33%. The company’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, Director David Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.71, for a total value of $73,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 47,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,340.89. This trade represents a 3.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $221,400 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth about $24,160,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Gas during the second quarter worth about $16,287,000. Amundi boosted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 1,283.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 162,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,973,000 after purchasing an additional 150,764 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 54.1% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 201,660 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,732,000 after purchasing an additional 70,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 224.5% in the 2nd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 43,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,129,000 after acquiring an additional 30,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

About Northwest Natural Gas

Northwest Natural Gas Company, operating as NW Natural and a subsidiary of Northwest Natural Holding Company, is an energy and utility company headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Its principal business is the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

NW Natural serves communities primarily in Oregon and southwest Washington through a regulated natural gas distribution system. The company also provides related services, including natural gas storage and programs focused on renewable natural gas and other lower-carbon energy solutions.

The company traces its history to 1859 and has expanded beyond its traditional natural gas operations through investments in water and wastewater utilities.