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

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 300,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,250,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned approximately 0.78% of Northwest Natural at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,572,000 after acquiring an additional 71,214 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 6.5% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,272,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.4% during the second quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 243,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,776,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in Northwest Natural by 113.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 235,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,762,000 after acquiring an additional 125,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWN has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Northwest Natural stock opened at $43.20 on Friday. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $43.30. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.38 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

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.