Swiss National Bank Reduces Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.21% of Northwest Natural worth $3,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 19,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,638 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 42,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 9,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.88% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $38.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.90 and a 200-day moving average of $44.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.59. Northwest Natural Holding has a twelve month low of $38.88 and a twelve month high of $52.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.10. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 8.47%. The business had revenue of $237.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.65 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NWN. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $50.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Northwest Natural in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $57.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.75.

About Northwest Natural

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation customers in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The company operates Mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities and third-party marketers; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.