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

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

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

Northwest Natural Price Performance

Shares of NWN 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.62. Northwest Natural has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.65) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued 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 yield of 4.76%. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is currently 92.45%.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Northwest Natural by 173.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Northwest Natural during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Northwest Natural by 12,044.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in 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 last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently 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.