Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) Increases Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

Northwest Natural Gas Company (NYSE:NWN) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This is a 1.5% increase from Northwest Natural Gas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4925.

Northwest Natural Gas has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 70 years. Northwest Natural Gas has a payout ratio of 65.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Northwest Natural Gas to earn $3.23 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 61.0%.

Northwest Natural Gas Price Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $47.79 on Friday. Northwest Natural Gas has a 52-week low of $43.64 and a 52-week high of $55.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.37.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $243.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $271.87 million. Northwest Natural Gas had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 9.75%.Northwest Natural Gas’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Northwest Natural Gas Company Profile

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.