Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Plans $0.49 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Northwest Natural Gas declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4925 per share (ex-dividend/record date Apr 30, payable May 15), implying an annualized $1.97 payout and roughly a 3.5% yield; the company has raised its dividend every year for the last 70 years and carries a payout ratio near 65%, suggesting earnings currently cover the distribution.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.39 vs. $1.36) but missed revenue expectations, issued FY2026 guidance of $2.95–3.15 EPS, and holds a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $53.33 target (some firms have raised targets up to $58).

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.4925 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, May 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th.

Northwest Natural Gas has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 70 years. Northwest Natural Gas has a dividend payout ratio of 65.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Northwest Natural Gas to earn $2.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.97 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.7%.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of Northwest Natural Gas stock opened at $55.75 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.05 and a beta of 0.50. Northwest Natural Gas has a 12 month low of $39.10 and a 12 month high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $394.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $419.36 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on NWN shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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. BTIG Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

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.

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