Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,686 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 34,100 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.10% of Northwest Natural worth $1,610,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 384,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,688,000 after buying an additional 123,961 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 125,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,959,000 after buying an additional 26,152 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,817,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,203,000 after buying an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 615,126 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $24,334,000 after buying an additional 46,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 351.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,601,000 after buying an additional 49,606 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWN traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.71. The company had a trading volume of 22,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,642. 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 company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20 and a beta of 0.56. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $44.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $41.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.78.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.01). Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company had revenue of $370.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $395.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 96.55%.

Insider Transactions at Northwest Natural

In other news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.97, for a total transaction of $307,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 130,242 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David A. Weber sold 2,183 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.46, for a total transaction of $92,690.18. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,827.30. This represents a 89.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,042,268. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.