Northwest Natural Gas (NWN) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Northwest Natural Gas, now organized as NW Natural Holdings, is a utility company whose principal business is the distribution of natural gas through its NW Natural subsidiary. The company serves residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon and southwest Washington.

Founded in 1859 as the Portland Gas Light Company, the business has grown from a local gas provider into a regional utility. Its operations also include natural gas storage and, through subsidiaries, water and wastewater services.

NW Natural Holdings is also involved in efforts to expand lower-carbon energy options, including renewable natural gas. Its utility services and geographic reach are centered in the Pacific Northwest.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $50.96 to $52.17
• 50-Day Range: $46.66 to $51.90
• 52-Week Range: $45.69 to $55.99
• Volume: 586,356 shs
• Average Volume: 272,133 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.18 billion
• P/E Ratio: 17.10
• Dividend Yield: 3.85%
• Price Target: $55.43
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Northwest Natural Gas scored higher than 85% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 23rd out of 97 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Northwest Natural Gas has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.70, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 5 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Northwest Natural Gas is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Northwest Natural Gas has been the subject of 7 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 5.16%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Northwest Natural Gas are expected to grow by 5.16% in the coming year, from $3.10 to $3.26 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 17.10, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.33.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 17.10, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 32.11.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Northwest Natural Gas has a P/B Ratio of 1.46. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.67% of the float of Northwest Natural Gas has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Northwest Natural Gas has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 7.76.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Northwest Natural Gas has recently increased by 3.99%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Northwest Natural Gas is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.90%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Northwest Natural Gas has been increasing its dividend for 70 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 66.23%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Northwest Natural Gas will have a dividend payout ratio of 61.35% next year. This indicates that Northwest Natural Gas will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.14

News Sentiment

Northwest Natural Gas has a news sentiment score of 1.14. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.58 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 17 news articles for Northwest Natural Gas this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 3 people have searched for NWN on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -25% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 2 people have added Northwest Natural Gas to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -33% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.4 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Northwest Natural Gas insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $221,400.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.55% of the stock of Northwest Natural Gas is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

75.13% of the stock of Northwest Natural Gas is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 8/14 Dividend: 7/31/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 8/14 Dividend: 7/31/2026
• Dividend Payable: 8/14/2026
• Record date for 11/13 Dividend: 10/30/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 11/13 Dividend: 10/30/2026
• Last Earnings: 11/05/2026
• Today: 11/09/2026
• Dividend Payable: 11/13/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Utilities
• Industry: Gas Utilities
• Sub-Industry: Gas Utilities
• Current Symbol: NYSE:NWN
• CIK: 1733998
• Web: www.nwnaturalholdings.com
• Phone: (503) 226-4211
• Fax: 503-273-4822
• Employees: 1,619
• Year Founded: 1859

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Northwest Natural Gas: $55.43
• High Price Target: $59.00
• Low Price Target: $50.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +6.8%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.70
• Research Coverage: 10 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $3.02
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 17.10
• Forward P/E Ratio: 15.92
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $113.32 million
• Net Margins: 9.75%
• Pretax Margin: 12.91%
• Return on Equity: 8.33%
• Return on Assets: 2.03%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.52
• Current Ratio: 0.77
• Quick Ratio: 0.55

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.29 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.69
• Cash Flow: $7.54 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 6.88
• Book Value: $35.54 per share
• Price / Book: 1.46

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 42,090,000
• Free Float: 41,862,000
• Market Cap: $2.18 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.41