Truist Financial Corp Buys Shares of 11,680 Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $422,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $164,572,000 after buying an additional 71,214 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,272,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares during the period. 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 valued at $17,042,000 after buying an additional 15,523 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.4% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 113.2% during 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 buying an additional 125,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.7 %

NWN stock opened at $40.52 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $34.82 and a 1 year high of $41.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.57.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results 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 for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.96%.

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.