Brokerages Set Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) Target Price at $41.40

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.40.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 79,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural during the third quarter worth about $258,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 438,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,751,000 after acquiring an additional 26,900 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Northwest Natural by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 62,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,555 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NWN opened at $35.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.35 and its 200-day moving average is $37.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. Northwest Natural has a 12 month low of $34.95 and a 12 month high of $44.90.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.13). Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.76% and a net margin of 7.36%. The business had revenue of $433.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.488 dividend. This represents a $1.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.53%.

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.