Jacobi Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,021 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $228,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 1.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,101,000 after purchasing an additional 15,289 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 29,682 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 454,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,970,000 after acquiring an additional 16,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 47.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 384,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,688,000 after acquiring an additional 123,961 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.33, for a total value of $309,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 137,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,692,876.86. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 23,009 shares of company stock worth $936,978 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $42.38 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.43. 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. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.62.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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.

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.