Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Sunday morning.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $35.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $44.90.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.13). Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The company had revenue of $433.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.488 per share. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 85.53%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,572,000 after acquiring an additional 71,214 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural by 6.0% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 475,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,680,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 465,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,127,000 after buying an additional 26,540 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 392,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,284,000 after buying an additional 4,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural by 26.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 362,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,823,000 after buying an additional 74,776 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.