Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.1 %

NWN opened at $35.72 on Friday. Northwest Natural has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $44.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 0.57.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.13). Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 7.36%. The business had revenue of $433.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 212,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,257,000 after buying an additional 34,560 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 465,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,127,000 after buying an additional 26,540 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 298,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,634,000 after buying an additional 32,410 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 292.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 56,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after buying an additional 42,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grace & White Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 88,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,437,000 after buying an additional 21,495 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.