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

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 194,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,257 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Northwest Natural worth $7,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 2.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 13,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.2% in the third quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 12,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 24,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 11,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Northwest Natural by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $40.83 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.14 and its 200-day moving average is $40.38. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $44.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.01). Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $370.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.05 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Northwest Natural’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $41.33, for a total transaction of $309,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,876.86. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,009 shares of company stock valued at $936,978. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.