Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $910,000 Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.07% of Northwest Natural worth $910,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 686.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $40.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.11 and a 200-day moving average of $37.62. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $41.66.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $211.70 million during 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 quarterly revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural 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.