Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $384,000 Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 18.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Norges Bank bought a new position in Northwest Natural during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,569,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 113.2% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 235,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,762,000 after purchasing an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,572,000 after buying an additional 71,214 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the first quarter valued at $2,619,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the first quarter valued at $2,156,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural stock opened at $40.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.22 and its 200-day moving average is $37.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $41.19.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 7.18%. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.99 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is 85.53%.

Northwest Natural Company Profile

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.