Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.84 Million Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,619 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned about 0.12% of Northwest Natural worth $1,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in NWN. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Northwest Natural by 11,111.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 1,009 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 692.4% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 914 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the third quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,054 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 874 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE NWN opened at $41.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.60. Northwest Natural Holding has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $44.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47 and a beta of 0.59.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.42 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $370.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.05 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is 96.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Northwest Natural news, CEO David Hugo Anderson sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.33, for a total transaction of $309,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,742 shares in the company, valued at $5,692,876.86. This trade represents a 5.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 15,509 shares of company stock worth $638,628 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company’s stock.

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.