State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 926 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.13% of Northwest Natural worth $1,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,817,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,203,000 after buying an additional 51,391 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,101,000 after buying an additional 15,289 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,226,000 after buying an additional 29,682 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 47.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 384,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,688,000 after buying an additional 123,961 shares during the period. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the third quarter valued at $12,250,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $41.41 on Monday. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1-year low of $34.82 and a 1-year high of $44.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.01 and its 200 day moving average is $40.27. The company has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural

In other Northwest Natural news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.33, for a total value of $309,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 137,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,876.86. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.