Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $2.20-2.40 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $2.31.

Northwest Natural Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Northwest Natural stock traded up $0.23 on Friday, hitting $40.86. The stock had a trading volume of 38,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,137. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Northwest Natural has a one year low of $34.82 and a one year high of $42.56. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.59.

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The utilities provider reported ($0.71) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $136.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.47 million. Northwest Natural had a net margin of 6.90% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.65) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This is a boost from Northwest Natural’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural’s payout ratio is 92.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Northwest Natural from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Northwest Natural from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Northwest Natural from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th.

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.