Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Sunday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $41.40.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 0.5 %

NWN opened at $35.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.27. Northwest Natural has a fifty-two week low of $34.82 and a fifty-two week high of $44.90.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last issued 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 net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 6.76%. The firm had revenue of $433.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.488 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.44%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 85.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP now owns 212,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,257,000 after acquiring an additional 34,560 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 465,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,127,000 after buying an additional 26,540 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 298,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,634,000 after buying an additional 32,410 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 292.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 56,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after buying an additional 42,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grace & White Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 32.2% in the fourth quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 88,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,437,000 after buying an additional 21,495 shares in the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.