Northwest Natural (NWN) Competitors

Southwest Gas (NYSE:SWX) and Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, media sentiment, institutional ownership, community ranking, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Is SWX or NWN more profitable?

Northwest Natural has a net margin of 6.90% compared to Southwest Gas' net margin of 3.44%. Southwest Gas' return on equity of 5.99% beat Northwest Natural's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southwest Gas	3.44%	5.99%	1.76%
Northwest Natural	6.90%	5.89%	1.61%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas has higher revenue and earnings than Northwest Natural. Northwest Natural is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Gas, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southwest Gas	$4.83B	1.08	$150.89M	$3.11	23.30
Northwest Natural	$1.21B	1.38	$93.87M	$2.52	16.45

Which has more volatility & risk, SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas has a beta of 0.48, meaning that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northwest Natural has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas presently has a consensus target price of $74.25, suggesting a potential upside of 2.47%. Northwest Natural has a consensus target price of $44.67, suggesting a potential upside of 7.76%. Given Northwest Natural's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Northwest Natural is more favorable than Southwest Gas.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southwest Gas	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Northwest Natural	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SWX or NWN?

92.8% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Northwest Natural shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of Southwest Gas shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Northwest Natural shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SWX or NWN?

Southwest Gas received 6 more outperform votes than Northwest Natural when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 51.98% of users gave Northwest Natural an outperform vote while only 51.18% of users gave Southwest Gas an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southwest Gas	Outperform Votes 281 51.18%	Underperform Votes 268 48.82%
Northwest Natural	Outperform Votes 275 51.98%	Underperform Votes 254 48.02%

Is SWX or NWN a better dividend stock?

Southwest Gas pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Northwest Natural pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Southwest Gas pays out 79.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Northwest Natural pays out 77.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Northwest Natural has raised its dividend for 70 consecutive years. Northwest Natural is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer SWX or NWN?

In the previous week, Southwest Gas had 12 more articles in the media than Northwest Natural. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Southwest Gas and 7 mentions for Northwest Natural. Northwest Natural's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Southwest Gas' score of 0.98 indicating that Northwest Natural is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southwest Gas	11 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Northwest Natural	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Northwest Natural beats Southwest Gas on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.