Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Freedom Capital

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) was upgraded by stock analysts at Freedom Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

NWN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural Gas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $50.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.47. Northwest Natural Gas has a fifty-two week low of $39.10 and a fifty-two week high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.37.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). The company 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 revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Northwest Natural Gas news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total transaction of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,832.93. This trade represents a 91.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,704 shares of company stock worth $89,579 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

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

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.