Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and 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 0.45% of Northwest Natural worth $7,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWN. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,817,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,203,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 15,289 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $23,226,000 after buying an additional 29,682 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.5% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,272,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% in 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 buying an additional 15,523 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $39.56 on Wednesday. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $44.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.60. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.65) earnings per share. Northwest Natural’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total value of $298,350.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.