SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Stock Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 73.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,665 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,822 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural in the 4th quarter worth $138,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,097 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 11,571 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP grew its holdings in Northwest Natural by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 212,044 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,257,000 after buying an additional 34,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on NWN. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com cut Northwest Natural from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NWN stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.35. 233,549 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 299,248. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.13. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52 week low of $34.82 and a 52 week high of $44.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 0.57.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $433.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.81 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.53%.

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.