Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 2.950-3.150 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 2.960. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NWN shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a report on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Northwest Natural Gas from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.33.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

NWN traded up $2.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 600,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,995. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $47.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.77. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52-week low of $38.94 and a 52-week high of $53.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16 and a beta of 0.57.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $394.16 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $419.36 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. Northwest Natural Gas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.150 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Northwest Natural Gas will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.97 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $7.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.8%. This is a boost from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Northwest Natural Gas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northwest Natural Gas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NWN. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,083,304 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $82,749,000 after acquiring an additional 131,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 989,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,261,000 after purchasing an additional 16,297 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 860,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,683,000 after buying an additional 3,512 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 724,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,879,000 after buying an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 74.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 587,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,437,000 after buying an additional 250,025 shares during the last quarter. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.