Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is constructive: Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from six analysts, with an average 1-year price target of $57.00.
• Recent earnings were softer than expected: The company reported $2.33 EPS versus the $2.40 estimate and revenue of $490.4 million versus the $538.6 million consensus. Management also set FY2026 EPS guidance at $2.95 to $3.15.
• The dividend remains a key feature: Northwest Natural declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4925, equal to an annualized $1.97 per share and a yield of about 3.9%.

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWN. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Northwest Natural Gas from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

NWN opened at $50.51 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.93 and a 200-day moving average of $49.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.47. Northwest Natural Gas has a 1-year low of $39.10 and a 1-year high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.57 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 9.56%.Northwest Natural Gas's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Northwest Natural Gas's payout ratio is 67.24%.

Insider Activity at Northwest Natural Gas

In other news, VP David A. Weber sold 1,700 shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.57, for a total value of $89,369.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 149 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,832.93. The trade was a 91.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,704 shares of company stock valued at $89,579. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 30,005 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 16,967 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,098 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 67,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. 75.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Northwest Natural Gas

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.

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