American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 8,025 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,025 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.16% of Northwest Natural worth $2,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the first quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 686.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the first quarter worth $48,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded 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 report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:NWN opened at $40.46 on Friday. Northwest Natural Holding has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $41.20. The company has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.82%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.