Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Issues Earnings Results

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.79) by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 7.18%. The business had revenue of $136.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $132.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.65) EPS. Northwest Natural’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Northwest Natural updated its FY24 guidance to $2.20-2.40 EPS.

Northwest Natural Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NWN traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $42.11. The stock had a trading volume of 19,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,170. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29 and a beta of 0.58. Northwest Natural has a twelve month low of $34.82 and a twelve month high of $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. This is an increase from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is presently 89.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NWN. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.