Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Sunday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Northwest Natural currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NWN opened at $36.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural has a 1 year low of $34.82 and a 1 year high of $44.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Northwest Natural will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.41%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.53%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,572,000 after buying an additional 71,214 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 475,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,680,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 465,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,127,000 after buying an additional 26,540 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 392,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,284,000 after purchasing an additional 4,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 362,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,823,000 after purchasing an additional 74,776 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.