Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 3,400 Shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Northwest Natural worth $2,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NWN. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in shares of Northwest Natural during the third quarter worth approximately $12,250,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in Northwest Natural in the 3rd quarter worth $7,390,000. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in Northwest Natural in the third quarter worth $5,068,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 123,961 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 406.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 144,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,207,000 after buying an additional 115,698 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Northwest Natural

In related news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.78, for a total value of $298,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 144,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,740,174.44. This represents a 4.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NWN opened at $40.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.92.

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

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 92.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.