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

Company Overview

Northwest Natural Gas Company, doing business as NW Natural, is a regulated natural gas distribution utility serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company delivers natural gas through its pipeline system and provides related services, including energy-efficiency programs, appliance services, and solutions designed to support safe and efficient natural gas use.

Founded in 1859, NW Natural has developed a long-standing presence in the Pacific Northwest. Its natural gas utility operations primarily serve communities in Oregon and southwest Washington. The company also operates natural gas storage assets and has expanded into water and wastewater services through affiliated businesses, broadening its focus beyond traditional gas distribution.

NW Natural is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. David H. Anderson serves as president and chief executive officer. The company operates as part of NW Natural Holding Company, whose businesses include regulated natural gas distribution, water and wastewater utilities, and other energy-related activities.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $48.31 to $49.02
• 50-Day Range: $46.66 to $51.04
• 52-Week Range: $44.18 to $55.99
• Volume: 228,549 shs
• Average Volume: 272,589 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.06 billion
• P/E Ratio: 16.29
• Dividend Yield: 4.03%
• Price Target: $55.80
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Northwest Natural Gas scored higher than 89% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 28th out of 96 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: 3.2 / 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 2.86, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 4 buy ratings, 2 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Northwest Natural Gas has a consensus price target of $55.80, representing about 14.3% upside from its current price of $48.83.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Northwest Natural Gas has only been the subject of 3 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.25%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Northwest Natural Gas are expected to grow by 6.25% in the coming year, from $3.04 to $3.23 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 16.28, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.75.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Northwest Natural Gas is 16.28, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 23.77.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Northwest Natural Gas has a P/B Ratio of 1.37. 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

4.49% 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 5.76.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Northwest Natural Gas has recently increased by 1.18%, 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 4.07%, 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 65.67%. 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 60.99% next year. This indicates that Northwest Natural Gas will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.04

News Sentiment

Northwest Natural Gas has a news sentiment score of 1.04. 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 0.54 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 7 news articles for Northwest Natural Gas this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 4 people have searched for NWN on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -43% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

6 people have added Northwest Natural Gas to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 500% 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 $225,105.00 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
• Last Earnings: 8/04/2026
• Dividend Payable: 8/14/2026
• Today: 10/14/2026
• Record date for 11/13 Dividend: 10/30/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 11/13 Dividend: 10/30/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/05/2026
• 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: $55.80
• High Price Target: $58.00
• Low Price Target: $50.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +14.2%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.86
• Research Coverage: 7 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $3.00
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 16.29
• Forward P/E Ratio: 16.08
• 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: 1.60
• Cash Flow: $7.53 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 6.49
• Book Value: $35.54 per share
• Price / Book: 1.38

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 42,090,000
• Free Float: 41,862,000
• Market Cap: $2.06 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.40