Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $7.70 Million Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 194,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,257 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Northwest Natural worth $7,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 50,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,985,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 3,414.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,608 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 6,420 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 128,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,602 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,581 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural

In other Northwest Natural news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.97, for a total value of $307,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130,242 shares in the company, valued at $5,336,014.74. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 23,009 shares of company stock worth $936,978 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NYSE NWN traded up $1.50 on Monday, reaching $42.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 344,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 208,310. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.43. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52 week low of $34.82 and a 52 week high of $44.25. 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 (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $370.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.05 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. Northwest Natural's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.55%.

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.