Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 351.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,606 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $2,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural by 692.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Northwest Natural in the third quarter worth approximately $445,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Northwest Natural by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,817,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,203,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 251,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,265,000 after purchasing an additional 12,702 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural

In other news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total value of $298,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,740,174.44. The trade was a 4.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $39.68 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 0.61. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $44.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.65) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.