Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Price Target Cut to $44.00 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $45.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 6.93% from the company’s current price.

NWN has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NWN stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.15. The stock had a trading volume of 9,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,941. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.00 and its 200 day moving average is $38.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.58. Northwest Natural has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business 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 business’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.65) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 2.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 13,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 32,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 4.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Northwest Natural by 55.2% during the third 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. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.