Bank of Montreal Can Trims Stock Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Bank of Montreal Can cut its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 413 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.06% of Northwest Natural worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NWN. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 83,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 8,198 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the second quarter worth $303,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,272,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 2nd quarter worth about $235,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWN has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NWN opened at $38.87 on Tuesday. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1 year low of $34.82 and a 1 year high of $41.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.06. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.18% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.488 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.53%.

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.