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 firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,740,174.44. This represents a 4.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NWN stock opened at $39.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.23 and its 200-day moving average is $39.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.90 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.65) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 92.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural during the second quarter worth about $2,031,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 worth $74,203,000 after purchasing an additional 51,391 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 155.0% in the second 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 holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,226,000 after purchasing an additional 29,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the third quarter valued at approximately $532,000. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.