TD Asset Management Inc Lowers Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

TD Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 4.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $1,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural during the fourth quarter valued at $8,569,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 113.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $164,572,000 after acquiring an additional 71,214 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the first quarter valued at about $2,619,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the first quarter valued at about $2,156,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural stock opened at $40.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.62. Northwest Natural Holding has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $41.66.

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

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.488 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.