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

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 2.950-3.150 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 3.050. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NWN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Monday, May 11th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Northwest Natural Gas in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of Northwest Natural Gas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.25.

Northwest Natural Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NWN stock opened at $48.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.43. Northwest Natural Gas has a one year low of $39.29 and a one year high of $55.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE:NWN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.40 by ($0.07). Northwest Natural Gas had a net margin of 9.56% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $538.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Northwest Natural Gas will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Northwest Natural Gas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Northwest Natural Gas’s payout ratio is 67.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Hugo Anderson sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.18, for a total transaction of $76,770.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 52,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,674,615.62. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Northwest Natural Gas by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 106,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after buying an additional 5,644 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Northwest Natural Gas by 17.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 164,729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,037,000 after acquiring an additional 24,906 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 650.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 64,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,775,000 after acquiring an additional 56,314 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Northwest Natural Gas by 28.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Northwest Natural Gas in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,431,000. 75.13% of the stock is currently owned by 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.