SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,006 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 384,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $15,688,000 after buying an additional 123,961 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 125,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,959,000 after acquiring an additional 26,152 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.9% in the third 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 during the period. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 155.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 351.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 49,606 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NYSE NWN traded up $0.80 on Thursday, hitting $40.54. The stock had a trading volume of 251,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,498. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.75 and a 200-day moving average of $40.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $44.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.65) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural

In other Northwest Natural news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total transaction of $298,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,740,174.44. The trade was a 4.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.