Glenmede Trust Co. NA Takes Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 181,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,390,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA owned approximately 0.47% of Northwest Natural as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $164,572,000 after purchasing an additional 71,214 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Northwest Natural during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,031,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural by 58.8% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 65,116 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 24,110 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Northwest Natural by 30.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,999 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 7,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Northwest Natural by 155.0% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $43.82. 106,245 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 275,903. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.95. 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 earnings results 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 business had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.65) EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.49 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. Northwest Natural's payout ratio is 92.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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 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.