Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $23.23 Million Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 5.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 568,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 29,682 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.47% of Northwest Natural worth $23,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 155.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 257.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut 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.

Northwest Natural Trading Down 0.9 %

NWN traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.90. The stock had a trading volume of 141,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,430. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $40.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.07. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1-year low of $34.82 and a 1-year high of $44.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.65) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This is a boost from Northwest Natural's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.45%.

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.