Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Acquires New Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 300,099 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $12,250,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned 0.78% of Northwest Natural as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 113.2% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 235,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,762,000 after purchasing an additional 125,000 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural during the third quarter worth approximately $5,068,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 406.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 144,198 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,207,000 after purchasing an additional 115,698 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 71,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1,040.1% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 68,977 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 62,927 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Northwest Natural stock traded up $0.57 on Friday, reaching $43.78. 200,975 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 277,094. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.58. 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 twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $43.98.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.65) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural's previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.