Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $1.24 Million Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,203 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.08% of Northwest Natural worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the third quarter worth $34,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 13,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 7.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 27.0% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 75,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 16,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 4.4% during the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 17,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $716,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NWN stock opened at $43.82 on Monday. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $44.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.96. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.58.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. Northwest Natural’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.65) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.