Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) CEO Sells $298,350.00 in Stock

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NWN traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $39.50. 180,169 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 273,916. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52 week low of $34.82 and a 52 week high of $44.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.24 and a 200-day moving average of $39.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63 and a beta of 0.61.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.65) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.96%. This is a positive change from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Northwest Natural by 4.9% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 19,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 471,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $17,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the period. WBI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 45,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 3.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 15,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.