Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $2.47 Million Stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 1,040.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,927 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $2,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural during the 4th quarter worth about $8,569,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 32,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 7,931 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 195,913 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,629,000 after acquiring an additional 23,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 448,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NWN stock opened at $40.82 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.86. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.488 per share. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 85.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on NWN. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.