Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Reduces Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC reduced its position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,478 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,023 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.26% of Northwest Natural worth $4,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 32,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 7.5% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Northwest Natural by 4.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.9% in the second quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 12,012 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $434,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 2.2 %

Northwest Natural stock opened at $39.84 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.06. Northwest Natural Holding has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $41.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.99 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 7.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. 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 4.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.