Summit Global Investments Purchases New Holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 23,204 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $991,000. Summit Global Investments owned approximately 0.06% of Northwest Natural as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 238.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 376,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,885,000 after purchasing an additional 265,013 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,392,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 5,225.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 72,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,082,000 after buying an additional 70,799 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 351.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 49,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Northwest Natural by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 110,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,358,000 after acquiring an additional 49,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northwest Natural news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total transaction of $310,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,866,657.72. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David A. Weber sold 2,183 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.46, for a total transaction of $92,690.18. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 255 shares in the company, valued at $10,827.30. This trade represents a 89.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,774 shares of company stock valued at $1,037,295 over the last ninety days. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NWN traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.11. 76,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,426. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.33. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $44.38. 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 company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92 and a beta of 0.56.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.19. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The business had revenue of $494.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $464.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. Northwest Natural's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.89%. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th.

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.