Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 16,061 Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 16,061 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 47.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 384,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,688,000 after purchasing an additional 123,961 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 125,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,959,000 after buying an additional 26,152 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,817,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,203,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 615,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,334,000 after acquiring an additional 46,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 351.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 49,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.97, for a total value of $307,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 130,242 shares in the company, valued at $5,336,014.74. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,509 shares of company stock worth $638,628. Corporate insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Northwest Natural stock opened at $41.28 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $44.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.86 and its 200-day moving average is $40.62.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.01). Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company had revenue of $370.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Northwest Natural’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is 96.55%.

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.