ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,265 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,747 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.50% of Northwest Natural worth $7,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 160.5% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 16,320 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 10,054 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased 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 valued at $14,885,000 after acquiring an additional 265,013 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 363,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,382,000 after purchasing an additional 8,542 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 110,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,358,000 after purchasing an additional 49,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,925 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 10,132 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David A. Weber sold 2,183 shares of Northwest Natural stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,827.30. The trade was a 89.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $322,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 109,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,724,926. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,054,793. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NWN traded down $0.83 on Wednesday, reaching $40.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 260,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 248,235. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. Northwest Natural Holding has a 52-week low of $34.82 and a 52-week high of $45.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.31. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.79%. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.78%.

Northwest Natural Company 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.