Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Stock Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN - Free Report) by 92.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 141,600 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Northwest Natural were worth $467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Northwest Natural by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,713,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $186,475,000 after buying an additional 28,078 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Northwest Natural by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,715 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,958,000 after acquiring an additional 24,510 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Northwest Natural by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 615,126 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,334,000 after acquiring an additional 46,135 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 454,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,970,000 after purchasing an additional 16,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural by 47.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 384,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,688,000 after purchasing an additional 123,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company's stock.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NYSE NWN traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $44.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 321,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 245,368. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural Holding has a 1 year low of $34.82 and a 1 year high of $44.73. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $42.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.56.

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

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Northwest Natural's dividend payout ratio is presently 96.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 117,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,866,657.72. This represents a 6.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David A. Weber sold 2,183 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.46, for a total value 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. This represents a 89.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,192 shares of company stock valued at $1,054,793 in the last quarter. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.