Brokerages predict that Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) will report earnings of $0.06 per share for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Zero analysts have issued estimates for Northwest Natural Gas’ earnings, with estimates ranging from $0.05 to $0.08. Northwest Natural Gas reported earnings per share of $0.07 during the same quarter last year, which indicates a negative year over year growth rate of 14.3%. The business is expected to report its next quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, August 2nd.
On average, analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will report full year earnings of $2.17 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.15 to $2.20. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will post earnings of $2.28 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $2.23 to $2.30. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS calculations are an average based on a survey of analysts that follow Northwest Natural Gas.
Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.01. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The business had revenue of $297.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.56 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis.
NWN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BidaskClub downgraded shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 17th. Finally, Sidoti reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, June 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.00.
Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE NWN) traded up 0.80% on Wednesday, hitting $63.05. 129,635 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.84. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52-week low of $53.50 and a 52-week high of $66.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34 and a beta of 0.42.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 27th. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.24%.
In related news, VP Shawn M. Filippi sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.27, for a total transaction of $74,724.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,819.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David A. Weber sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.56, for a total transaction of $123,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,027 shares in the company, valued at $124,782.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,224 shares of company stock worth $384,376 over the last three months. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 12,672.6% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,607,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $213,194,000 after buying an additional 3,579,109 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 4.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,703,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $159,800,000 after buying an additional 120,458 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 850,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,267,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 4.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 700,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,379,000 after buying an additional 32,715 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 509,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,128,000 after buying an additional 14,121 shares during the period. 63.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Northwest Natural Gas
Northwest Natural Gas Company (NW Natural) is engaged in the distribution of natural gas. The Company’s segments include Local Gas Distribution, Gas Storage and other. The Company maintains operations in Oregon, Washington and California and conducts businesses through NW Natural and its subsidiaries.
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