Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Shares Bought by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,179 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $4,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NWN. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Northwest Natural by 14.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 62,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after purchasing an additional 8,025 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the second quarter valued at $235,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 8,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 32.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 90,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 21,985 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural

In other Northwest Natural news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total value of $298,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,740,174.44. The trade was a 4.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Northwest Natural Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $39.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.05. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month 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 issued its earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.65) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

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.