Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 187,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,353 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $6,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 686.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NWN shares. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NWN stock opened at $38.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12 month low of $34.82 and a 12 month high of $41.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.55.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $231.99 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 7.18%. Northwest Natural’s revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio 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.