Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 691 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,229,000 after purchasing an additional 7,715 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 15.2% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in Northwest Natural by 46.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 25,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 8,173 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 17.3% in the first quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NWN shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NWN opened at $43.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.58. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $44.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.70 and a 200-day moving average of $38.95.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.65) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is 92.45%.

Northwest Natural Company 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.