Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 12,616 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 50.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,592 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,616 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 72,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Northwest Natural by 19.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 39,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 6,359 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $164,572,000 after buying an additional 71,214 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural in the first quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 58,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,170,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Northwest Natural Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.15. 211,054 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 224,997. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.63. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52 week low of $34.82 and a 52 week high of $42.56. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.58.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.65) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is 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.