Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $270,000 Investment in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NWN. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 692.4% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural

In other news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total value of $298,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 144,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,740,174.44. The trade was a 4.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Northwest Natural stock opened at $39.48 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.14 and a 200-day moving average of $39.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.61. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1 year low of $34.82 and a 1 year high of $44.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.65) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is presently 92.45%.

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.