Legato Capital Management LLC Has $481,000 Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 77.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,303 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 686.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Northwest Natural during the first quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Northwest Natural during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 0.4 %

Northwest Natural stock opened at $40.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.66.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $211.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.99 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is presently 85.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.25.

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.