Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural during the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 155.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NWN. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $38.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.10%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.91%.

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.