Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,468 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,702 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.63% of Northwest Natural worth $10,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter worth $78,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the third quarter worth approximately $181,000. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural during the third quarter valued at $1,109,000. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its position in Northwest Natural by 131.7% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 50,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 28,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 98,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,024,000 after acquiring an additional 14,998 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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, November 14th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.57. 154,137 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 271,923. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $44.25. 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's 50 day moving average is $41.05 and its 200 day moving average is $39.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61 and a beta of 0.61.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The company had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.65) EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. 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 payout ratio is 92.45%.

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.