Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 773,000 shares, a drop of 13.5% from the January 31st total of 893,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 205,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural

In related news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.33, for a total value of $309,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 137,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,876.86. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 23,009 shares of company stock worth $936,978 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 139,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,531,000 after acquiring an additional 6,870 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 2,704 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 200,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,922,000 after acquiring an additional 8,747 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 160.5% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 16,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 10,054 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 238.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,885,000 after acquiring an additional 265,013 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NYSE:NWN opened at $41.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 0.62. Northwest Natural has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $44.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.46.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $370.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.05 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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.

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.