HighTower Advisors LLC Has $238,000 Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,765 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the third quarter worth $12,250,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,390,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural during the third quarter valued at about $5,068,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Northwest Natural by 406.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 144,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,207,000 after buying an additional 115,698 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 1,040.1% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 68,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 62,927 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total transaction of $298,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 144,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,740,174.44. This trade represents a 4.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $39.68 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72 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.

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

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is presently 92.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.