Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,314 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Northwest Natural worth $7,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,572,000 after acquiring an additional 71,214 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,272,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 243,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,776,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 113.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 235,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,762,000 after buying an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:NWN opened at $41.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74 and a beta of 0.58. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1-year low of $34.82 and a 1-year high of $42.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The company had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.65) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.