Foundry Partners LLC Takes $5.07 Million Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 124,162 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,068,000. Foundry Partners LLC owned about 0.32% of Northwest Natural as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NWN. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural by 2.3% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 13,978 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 4.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 55.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.9% during the second quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 12,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN traded up $0.57 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.78. 200,975 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 277,094. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.58. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $40.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $43.98.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. Northwest Natural's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.65) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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.