Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $5.21 Million Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 406.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,698 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Northwest Natural worth $5,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NWN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,572,000 after purchasing an additional 71,214 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 475,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,680,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 3.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,042,000 after acquiring an additional 15,523 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 298,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,634,000 after acquiring an additional 32,410 shares during the period. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.4% in the second quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 243,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 0.2 %

NWN stock opened at $40.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.54 and a 200-day moving average of $37.79.

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

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.87%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.53%.

Northwest Natural 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.