SteelPeak Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 5,952 Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 563.8% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 6,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 5,164 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Northwest Natural by 7.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 257.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 173.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 12,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.25.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

NWN traded up $0.78 on Thursday, reaching $38.63. 239,035 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,196. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.57. Northwest Natural Holding has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.66.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.06. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $211.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.488 per share. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.53%.

Northwest Natural Profile

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.