Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Price Target to $44.00

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) had its price target lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $45.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th.

Northwest Natural Stock Up 1.3 %

Northwest Natural stock opened at $41.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural has a 1-year low of $34.82 and a 1-year high of $42.56.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. Northwest Natural’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.65) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Northwest Natural will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.76%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Northwest Natural

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,421,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $164,572,000 after acquiring an additional 71,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,817,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,203,000 after buying an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,101,000 after buying an additional 15,289 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 568,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,226,000 after buying an additional 29,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 6.5% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 506,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,272,000 after buying an additional 31,000 shares during 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.