MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 2nd, 2023

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Northwest Natural Holding (NYSE:NWN – Get Rating) by 2.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of Northwest Natural worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Northwest Natural by 36.6% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 2.5% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 11,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 1.2% during the third quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 25,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural by 0.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 42,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. 74.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NWN. TheStreet raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Northwest Natural from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.60.

Northwest Natural Price Performance

NWN opened at $47.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Northwest Natural Holding has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $57.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.02.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 24th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $375.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.17 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 7.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Northwest Natural Holding will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 30th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.21%.

About Northwest Natural

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Northwest Natural Holding Co engages in the local distribution of gas and water through its subsidiaries. It supplies natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Oregon and southwest Washington. The company founded in 1859 and is headquartered in Portland, OR.