Blueshift Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 5,691 Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Northwest Natural by 155.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in Northwest Natural by 257.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Northwest Natural Stock Up 1.1 %

NWN stock opened at $43.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.58. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $44.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.65) EPS. Northwest Natural’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.49 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

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.