Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 2.950-3.150 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 3.050. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, May 29th. Freedom Capital upgraded Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $48.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.59. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52 week low of $39.29 and a 52 week high of $55.99.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.The business had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $538.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.24%.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $76,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,674,615.62. This trade represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Northwest Natural Gas

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter worth $342,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,017,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the 4th quarter valued at about $607,000. Finally, VARCOV Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Northwest Natural Gas during the fourth quarter valued at about $399,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.13% of the company’s stock.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN), commonly known as NW Natural, is a publicly traded energy utility primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company operates an extensive pipeline network spanning thousands of miles across Oregon and southwest Washington. Its core business activities include gas procurement, system operation and maintenance, safety inspections and customer service support.

Dating back to the mid-19th century, Northwest Natural traces its origins to the Portland Gas Light Company, which first illuminated Portland streets with manufactured gas in 1859.