Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC Invests $46,000 in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 8.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 80.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 234,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,149,000 after buying an additional 104,423 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 20.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 6,526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 464,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,014,000 after buying an additional 7,071 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 2.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. 74.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Northwest Natural from $49.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.60.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE NWN opened at $49.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.94. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52-week low of $42.37 and a 52-week high of $57.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $48.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.55.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 8th. The utilities provider reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.19. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 8.25% and a return on equity of 7.54%. The firm had revenue of $116.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.88 million. Equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 30th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.62%.

Northwest Natural Profile

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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.