MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Acquires 8,542 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 363,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,542 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned 0.91% of Northwest Natural worth $14,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 351.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,703 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,601,000 after buying an additional 49,606 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 57,503 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 56,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 2,760 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Northwest Natural in the 4th quarter valued at about $791,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 103,657 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,101,000 after buying an additional 4,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural

In other Northwest Natural news, VP David A. Weber sold 2,183 shares of the business's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,827.30. The trade was a 89.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total transaction of $310,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,382 shares in the company, valued at $4,866,657.72. The trade was a 6.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,054,793. 0.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.10. 24,837 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 247,313. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 0.56. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $42.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.31. Northwest Natural Holding has a 12 month low of $34.82 and a 12 month high of $45.31.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $494.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $464.65 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm's revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.