300,099 Shares in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Purchased by Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 300,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,250,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,572,000 after purchasing an additional 71,214 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $452,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in Northwest Natural by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 58,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural during the 1st quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE NWN opened at $43.20 on Friday. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52 week low of $34.82 and a 52 week high of $43.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.70.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The business had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.65) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is presently 92.45%.

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.