Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Stock Position Reduced by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 50.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,616 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NWN. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 155.0% in 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. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on NWN. StockNews.com upgraded Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NWN opened at $41.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.62. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $42.56.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 6.90%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.65) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.45%.

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.