Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Posted by on Jun 19th, 2022

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN – Get Rating) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.60.

Several research firms have commented on NWN. Bank of America raised Northwest Natural from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Northwest Natural from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on Northwest Natural in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Maxim Group reduced their price objective on Northwest Natural from $74.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Monday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Northwest Natural from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 14th.

Northwest Natural stock opened at $51.69 on Friday. Northwest Natural has a fifty-two week low of $43.07 and a fifty-two week high of $57.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.22.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.26 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 8.43% and a return on equity of 8.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Northwest Natural will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.482 per share. This represents a $1.93 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 28th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.75%.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 133.2% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Dean Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. 64.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Company Profile (Get Rating)

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation customers in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The company also operates 5.7 billion cubic feet of the Mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities and third-party marketers; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.

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