Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.13 EPS

Northwest Natural (NYSE:NWN) posted its earnings results on Monday. The utilities provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.13), Briefing.com reports. Northwest Natural had a return on equity of 7.52% and a net margin of 7.84%. The firm had revenue of $433.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.81 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Northwest Natural Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:NWN opened at $37.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.05 and a 200 day moving average of $37.51. Northwest Natural has a 52-week low of $34.95 and a 52-week high of $47.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.54.

Northwest Natural Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.488 per share. This represents a $1.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Northwest Natural’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NWN. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Northwest Natural from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Northwest Natural in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northwest Natural presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.40.

About Northwest Natural

Northwest Natural Holding Company, through its subsidiary, Northwest Natural Gas Company, provides regulated natural gas distribution services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in the United States. The company operates a mist gas storage facility contracted to other utilities, third-party marketers, and electric generators; offers natural gas asset management services; and operates an appliance retail center.