Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $270,000 Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 2.9% in 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 holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,101,000 after acquiring an additional 15,289 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,226,000 after acquiring an additional 29,682 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Northwest Natural by 3.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 report on Thursday, November 14th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $39.48 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.14 and its 200-day moving average is $39.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.61. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1-year low of $34.82 and a 1-year high of $44.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 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) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.65) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total transaction of $298,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,740,174.44. This represents a 4.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.