Cwm LLC Acquires 1,895 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Cwm LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,572,000 after buying an additional 71,214 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.5% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,042,000 after buying an additional 15,523 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 243,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,776,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 113.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 235,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,762,000 after buying an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 0.1 %

NWN stock opened at $40.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.80 and a 200 day moving average of $38.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52 week low of $34.82 and a 52 week high of $41.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $211.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Northwest Natural’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

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.