Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 17.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 14,998 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned 0.25% of Northwest Natural worth $4,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NWN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Northwest Natural by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,226,000 after buying an additional 29,682 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,272,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $17,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the third quarter worth about $12,250,000. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.4% during the second quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 243,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,776,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $42.95. The stock had a trading volume of 161,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,347. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.76 and a 200-day moving average of $38.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26 and a beta of 0.61. 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 fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $44.25.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.65) earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.45%.

Northwest Natural 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.