Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Sets New 1-Year High at $41.20

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $41.20 and last traded at $41.13, with a volume of 59424 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Trading Down 0.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.22 and a 200-day moving average of $37.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.99 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 7.18%. Northwest Natural’s revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,572,000 after buying an additional 71,214 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,272,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 465,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,127,000 after purchasing an additional 26,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 298,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,634,000 after purchasing an additional 32,410 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

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.