Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,350,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,443 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.55% of Northwest Natural worth $169,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,569,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 26.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 362,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,823,000 after acquiring an additional 74,776 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 103.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 97,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,702,000 after acquiring an additional 49,225 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 638.6% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 55,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 48,178 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 292.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 56,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after acquiring an additional 42,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on NWN. StockNews.com lowered Northwest Natural from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:NWN opened at $35.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $44.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $433.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.81 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.488 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.50%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.53%.

About Northwest Natural

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.