Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $41.20 and last traded at $41.20, with a volume of 14337 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.65 and its 200 day moving average is $38.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.57.

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. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $211.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.96%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural by 686.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

About Northwest Natural

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.