Insider Selling: Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) CEO Sells $21,378.00 in Stock

Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 509 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $21,378.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,448,786. This trade represents a 0.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

David Hugo Anderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 20th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.97, for a total value of $307,275.00.
• On Tuesday, January 21st, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.33, for a total value of $309,975.00.
• On Friday, December 20th, David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of Northwest Natural stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total transaction of $298,350.00.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural stock opened at $40.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.62. Northwest Natural Holding has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $44.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.37.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.01). Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The business had revenue of $370.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 92.45%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Northwest Natural by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,713,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $186,475,000 after buying an additional 28,078 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $74,203,000 after acquiring an additional 51,391 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 908,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,958,000 after acquiring an additional 24,510 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 715,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,323,000 after acquiring an additional 17,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 615,126 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,334,000 after purchasing an additional 46,135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

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.