Advisors Asset Management Inc. Acquires 61,345 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 143.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,345 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $4,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural by 173.5% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew 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. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Northwest Natural stock opened at $43.78 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.73. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12 month low of $34.82 and a 12 month high of $43.98. The company has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.65) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.45%.

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.