David Hugo Anderson Sells 7,500 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Stock

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total value of $298,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,740,174.44. The trade was a 4.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $39.68 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.43. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12-month low of $34.82 and a 12-month high of $44.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.72 and a beta of 0.61. 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 (NYSE:NWN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The business had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.65) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the second quarter valued at about $2,031,000. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 51,391 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 155.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,226,000 after purchasing an additional 29,682 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter valued at $532,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.