GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $50,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 113.2% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 235,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,762,000 after purchasing an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural by 406.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 144,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,207,000 after buying an additional 115,698 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1.6% during the 1st 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural during the first quarter worth $2,619,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1,040.1% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 68,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 62,927 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 1.7 %

Northwest Natural stock opened at $41.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.13.

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

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is currently 85.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NWN shares. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.